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CECIL'S HOOKS OF NATURAL II/STO/t )' 




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SELIM II'. P E A B O D Y, M . A . 



( IIK A (, o : 

CLARKE AND COMPANY. 

! 869. 



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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1819, 
By CLARKE AND COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Northern District of Illinois. 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



About Swallows. 

The Fairy Martin, Hirundo Ariel Frontispieoo. 

Swallows : Their migrations — Their food — The Australian Swift — 
The Alpine Swift — The Common Swift — The Barn Swallow — 
The Chimney Swallow — The Sand Martin — The Purple Mar- 
tin — The Fairy Martin — The Red-necked Swallow — Th« Palm 
8wift — Edible birds-nests 11 

About Blackbirds. 

The Bob-o-Link, Dolicfionyx Orizivorus. 

Blackbirds : Immense flocks — The Purple Grakle — The Red-winged 
Blackbird — Its nest — Its usefulness — The Cow Blackbird — It 
steals its nest — The Bob-o-link — Who teaches the birds . 31 

The O'Liscon Family 46 



About Woodpeckers. 

The Downy Woodpecker, Picus pubescent. 

Woodpeckers: General characteristics — Their nests — The Downy 
Woodpecker — The Ivory-billed Woodpecker — Wilson's cap- 
tive — The Red-headed Woodpecker — The Golden-winged 
Woodpecker 51 



VI. CONTENTS. 



About Doves. 

The Crowned Pigeon, Qawra Oaronaia. 

Doves : The Rock Dove — Domestic Doves — The Dove-cote — Curious 
varieties of Doves — The Carrier Pigeon — The Turtle Dove — 
The Zenaida Dove — Pigeons — The Passenger Pigeon — Im- 
mense flocks of pigeons — A Pigeon roost — Food required for 
them — The Oceanic Fruit Pigeon — The Crowned Pigeon — The 
Dodo 65 

About Crows. 

The Carrion Crow, Corvus corone. 

Crows : Prejudice against them — The Raven — His mischievous ways 

— The Carrion Crow — The American Crow — His shrewdness 

— His usefulness — Tame Crows — The Rook — Colonies of 
Rooks — Their courts of justice — The Jackdaw — A Jackdaw 
lights fires — Is afraid of thunder — The Magpie — His lesson 
in nest-building — His thievish tricks — Superstitions about 
Magpies 87 

About Humming-Birds. 

Group of Humming-Birds. 

Humming-Birds : They live only in America — Their food, nectar and 
insects — The Ruby-throat — Webber's birds — The Long-tailed 
Humming-Bird — The Puff-legs — The Flame-bearers— The 
Sappho Comet — The Chimborazian Hill-Star — The Vervain 
Humming-Bird — Humming-Birds do not sing . . . 113 



A 



BOUT UWLS. 



The Snowy Owl, Nyctea JUTivea, with Owlets. 

Owls : General description — The Snowy Owl — The Burrowing Owl — 
The Great Horned Owl — The Virginian Eared Owl — The Mot- 
tled Owl — The Tawny Owl — The Barn Owl — The mice he 
catches, and how he eats them — The character of the Owls — 

The Owl King . 133 



CONTENTS. 



VI 1. 



About Kingfishers. 

The Belted Kingfisher, Ce? x yle alcyone. 

Kingfishers: Halcyon days — The Kingfisher's nest — The Belted 
Mngflaher — The Spotted Kingfisher — The Great African King- 
fisher — The English Kingfisher — Anecdotes — The Laughing 
Jackass 153 

Of Certain Sweet Singers, 

The Mocking Bird, Mimus polyglottw. 

Singing Birds: Their inspiring music Singing Automaton . . 169 

The Canary ; How it came to Europe — A talking Canary — Breeding 

Canaries 178 

The Sky-Lark: Its flight — Its nest — Its skill in avoiding danger . 175 
The Nightingale: The prince of European singers — Its song — Its 

nest— What Izaak Walton saith 178 

The Mocking Bird: The wonderful variety of its song — Its nest — 

Its courage 182 

About Parrots. 

The Tricolor-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua Leadbeateri. 

Parrots: General description — Parrakkets — The Rose-Hill Parra- 
keet — The Ground Parrakeet — The Ringed Pairakeet — Ma- 
caws — The Red and Blue Macaw — The Carolina Parrot — 
Wilson's pet Parrot — Lories — The Purple-capped Lory — 
True Parrots — The Grey Parrot — Anecdotes — Swindern's 
Love-Bird — Cockatoos — The Great White Cockatoo — The 
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo — Leadbeater's Cockatoo — Hunting 
Cockatoos — Parrots undesirable pets 191 



About Our Dickie. 

The White-throated Sparrow, Zojwtrichia AUricolHx. 

Our Dickie: Our Home — The Sparrow's fraud — A nest of young 
Mrdl — Thf- abandoned family — Dickie — He b-aves the nest 
— His playfulness — He goes to the city — His fright — His 
medicine — His death — His ghost ! — English Sparrows . . 215 



Sometimes a-dropping from the sky 
I heard the sky-lark sing; 
Sometimes all little birds that are, 
How they seemed to fill the sea and air 
With their sweet jargoning! 

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner* 



L 



About Swallows. 



Branch — Yertebrata. — Having a back bone. 

Class — Aves. — Birds. 

Order — Insessores. — Perchers. 

Tribe — Fissirostres. — Having bills deeply cleft. 

Family — HirwndinidcB. — Swallow-like. 




HEN Summer comes the Swal- 
lows come. In far off south- 
ern lands they have escaped 
the cold of our dreary winter 
months, and have found, while 
wandering, an ever present 
spring time. Now, whole 
flocks are sweeping about us, 
darting through the air with a swift flight 
which almost eludes our si^ht. With most of 
the small birds, the Swallows migrate, going to 



1 2 ABOUT S WALLO WS. 

warm climates in the autumn, and returning to 
cooler countries in the spring. A few may- 
creep into hollow trees, and pass the winter in 
<a torpid condition, like frogs and bears. At 
one time it was supposed that they found winter 
quarters in the water, at the bottom of streams 
and ponds. People imagined this because they 
did not see the Swallows on their journey, like 
the pigeons and geese. But if we remember 
that their usual rate of flying is a mile in a 
minute, or more than twice the ordinary speed 
of railway trains, and that, in the day time, they 
are almost always on the wing, we see that these 
little creatures may pass in a few days even from 
the arctic regions to the torrid zone. 

"Yet," says Wilson, " it is forced, when win- 
ter approaches, to descend to the bottom of 
rivers, lakes and mill-ponds, to bury itself in the 
mud, with eels and snapping-turtles, or to creep 
ingloriously into a cavern, or a rat-hole, or a 
hollow tree, there to doze with snakes, toads, 
and other reptiles, until the return of spring! 
The geese, the ducks, the cat-birds, and even 






THEIR HABITS. 1 3 

the wren, which creeps about our out-houses in 
summer like a mouse, are acknowledged to be 
migratory, and to pass to southern regions at 
the approach of winter; the Swallow alone, on 
whom Heaven has bestowed superior powers of 
wing, must sink in torpidity to the bottom of 
rivers, or doze all winter in the caverns of the 
earth ! " 

The habits of the Swallows are, perhaps, more 
easily observed and more generally known than 
those of almost any other birds. The air is, 
indeed, their home. They eat, drink, and even 
feed their young, while on the wing. The beak 
is very short, broad at the base, much flattened, 
and deeply cleft, forming a large scoop-like 
mouth, with which they gather up insects as 
they fly. They are fond of skimming along 
within a few inches of the smooth surface of 
water, sipping and flying. Their feet are short 
and weak, but their wings, when compared with 
the size and weight of their bodies, are remark- 
ably large and strong. Their nests are usually 
made of mud, strengthened with twigs, hair, 



14 ABOUT SWALLOWS. 

and the like, and they are fond of building 
about dwellings and barns, probably for greater 
safety from birds of prey. 

The Swallows all feed upon insects, and take 
their food in the air. At times they fly at a 
great height, so that they seem like tiny dots 
upon the sky ; at other times they sweep over 
the ground, or near the water, chasing the gnats 
which come up in myriads from the surface. 

The largest of this family is the Australian 
Needle-tailed Swallow, or Swift, Acanthylis cau- 
dacuta. It has the name Needle-tail on account 
of its curious tail-feathers. These are short and 
even, and have no web near the end, so that 
they form a row of short, sharp points. 

Mr. Gould, in his "Birds of Australia," says: 
* So exclusively is this bird a tenant of the air, 
that I never, in any instance, saw it perch, and 
but rarely sufficiently near the earth to admit 
of a successful shot; it is only late in the even- 
ing, and during lowery weather, that such an 
object can be accomplished. "With the excep- 
tion of the crane, it is certainly the most lofty, as 



HIGH-FLTING. 1 5 

well as the most vigorous flier of the Australian 
birds. I have frequently observed, in the mid- 
dle of the hottest days, while lying prostrate on 
the ground, with my eyes directed upwards, the 
cloudless blue sky peopled at an immense height 
by hundreds of these birds, performing exten- 
sive curves, and sweeping flights, doubtless 
attracted thither by the insects that soar aloft 
during serene weather. Hence few birds are 
more difficult to obtain, particularly on the con- 
tinent of Australia, where droughts are so prev- 
alent; on the contrary, the flocks that visit the 
moister climate of Van Dieman's Land, where 
they must seek their food nearer the earth, are 
often greatly diminished by the gun. 

"We may naturally conclude that both rocks 
and holes in the larger trees are selected for 
their nests, as well as for a resting-place during 
the night. Before retiring to roost, which it does 
immediately after the sun goes down, the Spine- 
tailed Swallows may be seen, singly or in pairs, 
sweeping up the gullies, or flying with immense 
rapidity just above the tops of the trees, their 



i6 



ABOUT SWALLOWS. 



never-tiring wings enabling them to perform 
their evolutions in the capture of insects, and of 
sustaining them in the air during the entire day 
without cessation/' 

The general color of this bird is olive brown, 
washed with a dark green tinge upon the back 
of the head, the wings, and the tail. Before the 
eyes there is a dark velvet patch, and most of 
the under part of the body is white. Its length, 
when its wings are closed, is twenty-eight inches, 
and twenty inches to the end of the tail. 

The White-bellied, or Alpine Swift, Cypselus 
melba, is about eight inches long, and spreads 
its wings about eighteen inches, yet its weight 
is barely one ounce. Its general color is sooty 
black, its chin and throat being white. It 
builds its nest in crevices of high cliffs or build- 
ings, and makes it of straw, hay, moss and other 
things, firmly cemented together with a kind of 
saliva. It lays four or five long, white eggs. 

Another, the Common Swift, of England, 
Cypselus apus y is called, by the English boys, 
"Jacky Screamer." This bird usually makes 



"JACKY SCREAMER." 1 7 

its home in holes in rocks, or in hollow trees, 
or in the thatched roofs of houses. " For- 
merly," says Wood, " when all the less pretend- 
ing houses were covered with thatch, the Swifts 
had their nests in every roof, and the 4 Jacky 
Screamers' used to hunt for flies in the streets, 
and boldly carry their prey to their young. 
The houses were so low that a man could touch 
the eaves by standing in a chair, and the habits 
of the birds were easily watched. Their nests 
were frequently robbed, but the birds seemed to 
care little for the bereavement, and quietly laid 
another couple of eggs. I seldom found more 
than three eggs in a nest." 

The structure of its feet enables the Swift to 
scramble through the tunnel leading to its nest 
with great speed. It is most interesting to see 
it wheel about in the air, utter its sharp cry, 
answered by a little complacent chirrup from 
its mate within the nest, then dart into its hole 
as if shot from a bow, closing its wings as it 
enters the tunnel, and then scramble away with 
a quick and sure gait. 



i8 



ABOUT SWALLOWS. 



The Barn Swallow, of America, Hirando 
horreorum, is about seven inches long, the wings 
five inches ; the tail is verv much forked. 
Its color is steel-blue above, and reddish-brown 
beneath. It loves to build in barns, and the 
farmers often leave holes in the gables for its 
entrance. Its nest is made in the form of 
an inverted cone, with a slice cut off on the 
side by which it sticks to the rafters. At the 
top it has a kind of shelf, on which the bird 
sits occasionally. The shell is made of mud 
mixed with fine hay, as plasterers mix hair with 
mortar to make it less brittle; the mud is about 
an inch thick, placed in regular layers. The 
inside is filled with fine hay, well stufled in, and 
covered with a handful of downy feathers. 
These birds are very social, and often twenty 
or thirty nests may be seen so close together 
that a finger could hardly be laid between them. 
The farmers have a superstition that ill luck 
w T ill come to a person who kills one of them; 
and some think that a building which they take 
possession of will not be struck by lightning. 



THE CHIMNET SWALLOW. 1 9 

At all events, their sprightly warble makes 
even the rudest barn cheerful and homelike. 

The American Chimney Swallow, Acanthylis 
pdasgia, is peculiar to this continent, and is 
quite different from its English name-sake, 
Hirundo ricstica. These Swallows reach the 
Northern States about the middle of May or 
the first of June, and dwell wherever there are 
chimneys convenient for their purpose. Since 
they always choose a chimney for their home, 
6ome may ask what they did before white men 
built chimneys. In those sections of the coun- 
try which are unsettled, they occupy tall, hollow 
trees, called Swallow-trees; but wherever there 
are settlements, the Swallows forsake the woods. 
They are more secure from birds of prey, they 
have better room for their sweeping flights, and 
they find a better surface, to which the material 
of their nests may adhere. 

Their nests are made of very small twigs, 
fastened together with a strong adhesive glue, 
secreted by two glands on each side of the head, 
and mingled with the saliva. They are small 



20 ABOUT S WALLOWS. 

and shallow, and adhere by one side of the wall ; 
they want the soft lining which is found within 
the nests of many other birds. The eggs are 
generally four,, and two broods are often reared 
in a season. The noise which the old birds 
make in passing up and down the flues, has 
some resemblance to distant thunder, or in the 
silence of the night brings to persons with weak 
nerves suggestions of robbers. During heavy 
and long continued rains the glue sometimes 
fails to hold the nest, and, with its contents, 
it drops to the bottom of the chimney. If eggs, 
they are, of course, destroyed; the young birds f 
if there are any, often scramble up the sides of 
the flue, holding on by their toes, and are fed 
in this position for some time. 

This Swallow is distinguished, when in the 
air, by its long wings, short body, the quick 
vibration of its wings, and its wide, unexpected, 
diving flight, shooting swiftly in various direc- 
tions with no apparent motion of its wings, and 
uttering quickly its hurried tsip, tsip 7 tsip, isee 9 
isee. It is very gay in damp weather, at the 



THE SAND MARTIN. 21 

approach of rain, and after a passing shower; 
it is out early in the morning and late at night. 
Early in September these birds assemble in con- 
vention, about some lofty tree or tall spire, 
wheeling about and chirping as busily — and as 
much to the purpose — as a party of politi- 
cians — perhaps nominating a mayor or gov- 
ernor — and then they take their flight for a 
warmer clime. 

A very interesting member of this family is 
the Sand Martin, or Bauk Swallow, Cotile 
riparia. In size, this bird is one of the smallest, 
being less than five inches long. Its color is 
soft brown, with black wing and tail feathers; 
the under surface is white. One would hardly 
expect to find the home of so graceful and deli- 
cate a bird in the ground, but with its sharp 
bill it manages to dig a burrow, where much 
larger four-footed creatures would fail. It 
makes its hole in any sandy soil, but most loves 
a light sandstone, because its work keeps best 
shape in that. The depth of the burrow varies 
from two to five feet, but the end is usually 



22 ABOUT S WALLOWS. 

beyond the reach of the arm. Generally it is 
quite straight ; should a root or stone be in the 
way it winds about it, or, if the obstacle is too 
large, the bird leaves the hole and begins again. 
In all cases it slopes gently upward, so that any 
water which comes in may easily run out. 

The bird sets at work in a very workman- 
like way. It first taps several places with its 
beak, until it finds one which will suit. Then 
it turns on its legs as a pivot, working all round 
a centre, and chipping out a very regular circle, 
and so pushes on, clinging equally well to roof 
or sides, and going back and forth with the 
greatest ease. The nest at the end is globular, 
and lined with a few bits of soft substance — hay, 
moss or feathers. The eggs are very small and 
delicate. When new laid they are pink, but 
afterwards become white. 

The voice of the Sand Martin is a weak twit- 
ter; when the birds are plenty their chirping 
may be heard at quite a distance. When it is 
angry or frightened it pours forth a harsh 
scream. It does not tolerate other birds in the 



THE PURPLE MARTIN. 2$ 

vicinity of its home, and a mob of Sand Martins 
will even drive away a hawk. They usually 
make their burrows in the bank of a stream or 
lake, where they may find a supply of food in 
the insects which swarm about the water, and 
their numbers often suggest the countless 
swarms about an immense bee-hive. 

The Purple Martin, Procpie purpurea, is found 
throughout America, from the Gulf of Mexico 
to Hudson's Bay. It loves to build about human 
habitations; even the Indians respect it, and 
contrive homes for it by hanging gourds about 
their wigwams. The more civilized farmer 
provides neat boxes which he fastens on the top 
of the house, or on tall poles. Sometimes the 
Martins presume in their familiarity and drive 
the pigeons out of their houses. But, wherever 
they find a home, they are very constant in 
their attachment, making but one nest, and 
returning to it year after year. 

"Where a pair of Martins have established 
themselves they will allow no other larger 
bird to dwell. A hawk, a crow, or a jay, 



24 ABOUT S WALL O WS. 

which presumes to intrude, is pounced upon 
without mercy, and so tormented that he is glad 
to escape. Even the eagle is no exception ; and 
it is a curious fact that though the Martin will 
fly at the king-bird, it will join with the king- 
bird to chase away the eagle. Its flight is so 
rapid that it has nothing to fear from the talons 
of the larger bird, and so it attacks him in 
safety. The color of the bird is a rich, deep, 
very glossy purple, the wings and tail being 
black. It lays from four to six eggs, and brings 
out two broods in a year, the male and female 
each sitting on the eggs in turn. 

A beautiful species, found in Australia, called 
the Fairy Martin, Hirundo ariel, is one of the 
most ingenious of the bird-builders. Its nest is 
shaped like an oil flask, and made of mud and 
clay, which the bird kneads thoroughly with its 
beak. Several birds build at one nest, one stay- 
ing inside and shaping the mortar which the 
others bring to him. In pleasant days the birds 
work only in the morning and evening, because 
the mud dries before they can mould it prop- 



AMERICAN SWALLLOW. 25 

erly, but in rainy weather they keep at work 
all day. The necks of these bottles are from 
seven to ten inches long, and the bulb or nest is 
from four to seven inches in diameter. The 
outside is rough, like the nests of the common 
Swallow, but the inside is beautifully smooth. 
Sometimes these mud-flasks are fastened to a 
house, in rows under the eaves; sometimes they 
are placed upon the steep face of a cliff, and 
then hundreds may be seen close together, with- 
out the slightest order, the necks sticking out 
in all directions. They are always near water, 
but not near the sea. 

An American Swallow builds a nest quite 
like that of the Fairy Martin. This is called 
the Rufous, or Red-Decked Swallow, Hirundo 
falua; it is sometimes called the Republican 
Swallow, because it gathers in large companies. 
The nests have a wider and shorter neck than 
those of the Fairy Martin. Towards night 
these birds gather in large flocks, calling to 
each other, so that at a distance their flight 
seems like a moving cloud. Suddenly this 



26 ABOUT SWALLOWS. 

cloud seems to gather, and then descend in a 
spiral, like a water- spout. When within a few 
feet of the bushes, they scatter in all directions, 
and settle upon the branches. When day- 
dawns they rise again, after flying low over the 
water, and then move away after food in differ- 
ent directions. The hunters knock them down 
in great numbers with the short paddles used 
with their canoes. 

The Palm Swift, Tachornis phoenicobia, of 
Jamaica, is marked even when flying by a 
broad white band across its black body. It 
builds in the hollow places about the leaves in 
the tops of the cocoa-nut palm, using a silky 
kind of cotton, which it felts together with a 
sort of slimy fluid. The nests are fastened 
upon the under surface of the palm-leaves, and 
are so hidden that they would not be easily seen, 
if the bird were not sometimes so liberal of its 
material as to betray itself. Several nests are 
found together. They are fastened to each 
other by the same substance, which glues them 
to the leaf, and are connected by a gallery 



EDIBLE BIRDS-NESTS. 2>J 

which runs along the side and opens into each 
nest. 

Hearty all the swallows which we have 
described make their nests by glueing together 
mud or sticks, or some fibrous substance, by 
the saliva which is formed in the bird's 
mouth. Some Swallows build entirely of this 
substance, and the nests, when made, are 
gathered, cleansed, and sold to the Chinese, 
who esteem them a great dainty for the table. 
There are four species of these makers of edible 
birds-nests. The nests are irregular in shape, 
are attached to each other, and are so rudely 
made that one can scarcely determine where 
the eggs were to be laid. They are always 
placed upon the side of a perpendicular rock, 
and are gathered by men who are lowered by 
ropes from above. The nests which have been 
1 by the birds to rear a brood of young 
bring but a low price, while those that are 
quite new and white are worth their weight in 
silver. The nests are gathered three times a 
year, and at each gathering care is taken to 



28 



ABOUT S WALL O WS. 



destroy all the old and discolored nests, in ordei 
to force the birds to make new ones; this laboi 
occupies them about two months. Europeans 
think the nests rather insipid food, and of no 
great value. The trade in them is very large, 
amounting to more than fifty thousand pounds 
a year, worth nearly a million of dollars. 

Although we have described by no means all 
the varieties of this very interesting family, the 
most important of them have been mentioned. 
We are not attracted to them by their plumage, 
although when we examine that we find their 
colors exceedingly rich and lustrous. Their 
song has little variety or harmony. We do 
admire their graceful forms, and their swift and 
airy motions. We love these birds for their 
activity in their own way of doing good; for 
their regular and constant return to old homes 
and familiar haunts; and for the confiding trust 
with which they love to build and live about 
our dwellings. 




THE BOB-O-LIISTK. Dolichonyx Orfzivorus. 



About Blackbirds. 



Vertbbrata. — Aves. 

Order — Inxessores. — Perchers. 

Tribe — Conirostres. — Having cone-shaped bills. 

Family — Icteridce. — From Latin, icterus. 




WIDE-AAVAKE, noisy, impu- 
dent fellow is the Blackbird. 
He comes quite early in the 
Spring, and as you pass some 
spreading tree in the pasture, 
or skirt along the willow copse 
by the meadow, you see that he 
has brought with him his whole 
family, and all his acquaintances. The brush 
18 black with them, and they all seem in earnest 
debate, rising, and perching, and chattering 



32 ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

incessantly; and then, all on a sudden, away 
flies the whole flock. You knew they were 
countless, but, as they fly, it seems as if the 
largest half of them had been in ambush, or 
had sprung out of the ground. 

Like the " crane and the swallow," the Black- 
birds " know the time of their coming." Before 
they leave the southern states they gather in 
numbers which are almost incredible. On one 
occasion, in the month of January, Wilson says 
he met in Virginia, on the Roanoke River, a 
prodigious army of these birds. They rose from 
the surrounding fields with a noise like thunder, 
and, descending on the length of road before 
him, covered it and the fences completely with 
black; when they again arose, and, after a few 
circles, descended on the skirts of the high-trm- 
bered woods, at that time destitute of leaves, 
they produced a very singular and striking 
effect; all the trees for a considerable dis- 
tance, from the tops to the lowest branches, 
seemed as if hung in mourning ; the notes 
and screaming of the birds meanwhile resem- 



.', 



THE PURPLE GRAKLE. 33 

bling the distant sound of a great cataract, 
but in more musical cadence, swelling and 
dying away in the air, according to the fluc- 
tuation of the breeze. 

This bird is known among us as the common 
Crow Blackbird, and is often called by natural- 
ists the Purple Grakle, Quiscalus versicolor. At 
a distance his plumage appears jet black, but 
on a nearer view it is found to be a very dark 
purplish green, with glossy reflections of steel 
blue, dark velvet, and metallic copper. The 
male is about twelve inches long, and eighteen 
in expanse of wing. The female is somewhat 
smaller, but similar in color. 

The Blackbird feeds either upon seeds or 
insects. In the Spring he frequents swamps 
and meadows, and follows the furrows of the 
plow, even scratching in the ground for grubs 
and other insects which would do the farmer 
much harm. But when the tiny green shoots 
of the corn peep through the soil, he knows 
very well that there are nice soft grains beneath, 
and so, after his own fashion, he takes his pay 



34 ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

for the grubs he has slain. When the corn is 
in the milk the Blackbirds descend again upon 
the fields like a blackening, sweeping tempest. 
They strip off' the husk as dexterously as if by 
the hand of man, and having laid bare the corn, 
leave little but the cobs. For these reasons it 
is hardly strange that the farmers think the 
Blackbird a pest, and make him an outlaw, in 
peril from the pelting, of every idle, roving boy. 
Most small birds are afraid of the larger 
kinds, and if a hawk or eagle show himself, 
they either hide themselves or try to drive him 
away, relying upon force of numbers or swiftness 
of wing. The Blackbird, however, is a curious 
exception, for it actually builds its nest in com- 
pany with the Osprey, or Fish-hawk. The nest 
of the Osprey is a large mass of sticks, grass, 
leaves and similar materials. The foundation 
is made of sticks as large as broom-handles, 
and two or three feet long ; on these similar 
sticks are piled, until the heap is some four or 
five feet high. These are interwoven with corn- 
stalks, straw, sea-weed, or leaves, the whole 



THE BLACKBIRD'S NEST. 35 

mass being enough to load a cart. The birds 
occupy the nest year after year, even until the 
tree decays and falls to the ground. 

The Blackbirds build their nests in the 
spaces between the sticks which form the nest 
of the Osprey. There, like vassals round the 
castle of their chief, they live and rear their 
young. Wilson found no less than four such 
nests about the nest of one Osprey, and a fifth 
on the nearest branch of a neighboring tree. 
Of course all the Blackbirds cannot build in 
Ospreys' nests. Most occupy tall trees, gener- 
ally in companies of fifteen or twenty. The 
nests are made of mud, roots and grass, and 
are lined with fine dry grass and horse-hair; 
the}' are about four inches deep, and contain 
five or six dull green eggs, spotted with olive. 

The Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius plvoeni- 
ceus, is found throughout the United States; it 
passes the winter in the Bouth, and returns 
north early in the spring. The Red-wings fly 
in Hocks, which rival in numbers, and in rapid 
and erratic motion, those of the common Black- 



3 6 ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

bird; indeed, the two birds often migrate 
together. On the wing they enliven their way 
with mutual chatter, and as genial Spring comes 
with them, we are glad to see them, although 
we know they will pull up corn. Their music 
is a compound of liquid, jingling notes, mingled 
with the jarring sounds of filing saws and 
creaking sign-boards, the whole uttered in 
downright earnest, and forming a curious con- 
cert of harmony and discord. 

"Assembled in their native marshes," says 
Nuttall, " the male, perched on the summit of 
some bush surrounded by water, in company 
with his mates, now sings out, at short inter- 
vals, his gutteral kong-quer-ree, sharply calls 
ftsheah, or, when disturbed, plaintively utters 
tftshay ; to which his companions, not insensible 
to these odd attentions, now and then return a 
gratulatory cackle, or reiterated chirp, like that 
of the native meadow-lark. As a pleasant and 
novel, though not unusual accompaniment, per- 
haps the great bull-frog elevates his green head 
and brassy eyes from the stagnant pool, and 



THE RED- WINGS NEST. 37 

calls out in loud aud echoing bellow, 'w'rroo, 
'warroOj hcorrorroo, 'boarroo, which is again 
answered, or, as it were, merely varied, by the 
creaking or cackling noise of his feathered 
neighbors." 

The Red-wing usually builds its nest in some 
swamp, or marsh, abounding with alders. In 
these, and sometimes in a detached bush, in a 
tussock of rank grass in the meadow, the nest 
is curiously wrought with the long dry leaves 
of meadow grasses, and the slender blades of 
the flags, carried round the stalks of the 
leaves for support, and carefully interwoven. 
The meshes of this basket are filled with rotten 
wood, roots of grass, peat, and mud, making, 
when dry, a substantial shell, which is lined 
with fine dry stalks and rushes. The eggs are 
five in number, pale blue, spotted near the 
large end with light purple and dark brown. 
The male bird is about nine inches long. His 
color is deep glossy black, with bright scarlet 
over the shoulders. Most of the plumage of 
the female is black, the feathers being edged 



3§ ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

with reddish, or yellowish brown, so that she is 
curiously mottled. The young are marked like 
the female, and do not put on the entire gay 
livery of the male until several years old. 

Because the Red-wing is so fond of corn he 
is considered an intolerable nuisance, and is 
killed by every possible means. But there is 
another side to this story. What can the mul- 
titudes of these birds eat, after the corn is too 
large to pull, and before the ears are grown ? 
During all the spring and summer they feed on 
little else but insects, choosing especially those 
which devour the young leaves of growing 
crops. "Whether a grub be buried in the earth, 
eating away the root of a plant, or concealed 
among the the thick foliage, which it destroys, 
or boring a passage in the trunk of a tree, the 
Red-wing finds it, and eats it, or takes it to his 
young. Wilson examined the crops of many 
of these birds, and calculated that, upon the 
average, each bird destroyed fifty grubs daily, 
and, probably, twice that number. The num- 
ber of insects, then, which these birds will eat 



THE COW BLACKBIRD. 39 

in a single season, is beyond conception, and 
they ought to be cherished, rather than 
destroyed. In all the eastern states, grain, 
fruit, and, in fact, every kind of crop which 
fanners raise, suffer immense injury, and are 
often utterly ruined by insects, which the birds 
would take care of if the farmers were wise 
enough to let them. 

The Cow Blackbird, or Cow Troopial, 
Molothrus pecoris, enters the northern states 
about the first of April ; about the middle of 
July it disappears again and is not seen until 
September, when it re-appears for a short stay 
before it goes south. It feeds upon worms and 
grubs, following the plow with the Red-wings 
and Crow Blackbirds, and is often busy about 
cattle, picking up the insects which they hap- 
pen to disturb. 

Unlike most other birds, the Cow-bird never 
pairs, and makes no nest; it lays its eggs in 
the nests of other birds and leaves them to 
their fate. The strangest part of this is, that 
the poor bird upon whose charity the egg haa 



4° ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

been thrust, takes charge of it, and brings up 
the young bird hatched from it in preference to 
her own. 

The following anecdote, by Doctor Potter, 
shows that the Cow-bird creeps slyly into the 
nests of other birds, and that even the most 
peaceable will sometimes resent the injury: 

" A blue-bird had built for three summers 
in the hollow of a mulberry tree near my dwell- 
ing. One day, when the nest was nearly done, 
a Cow-bird perched upon a stake fence near, 
her eyes apparently fixed upon the spot, while 
the builder was busy upon her nest. The 
moment she left it, the intruder dashed into it, 
and in five minutes returned and flew away to 
her mates with noisy delight, which she 
expressed by her actions and tones. The blue- 
bird soon returned and entered the nest, but at 
once fluttered back with much hesitation and 
perched upon the highest branch of the tree, 
uttering a rapidly repeated note of complaint 
and anger, which soon brought her mate. They 
entered the nest together, and returned a sec- 



5 TOLEN NES TS. 4 1 

ond time, uttering a continual complaint for ten 
or fifteen minutes. The mate then dashed 
away as if in search of the offender, and fell 
upon a cat-bird, which he chastised severely, 
and then attacked an innocent sparrow that 
was chirping its ditty in a beech-tree. After 
all this, the Cow-bird was found to have laid 
another egg next day." The observation was 
not continued, for a snake found the nest and 
destroyed its contents. 

The egg is usually laid in the nest of some 
smaller bird, as the red-eyed flycatcher, the 
blue-bird, the chipping sparrow, or the golden 
crowned thrush. The egg of the stranger is 
hatched first. The great size of the intruder 
soon stifles the rightful heirs, and the parent 
bird carries away its own dead young to make 
room for the foundling; they are not found 
under the nest where they would have dropped 
if the little Cow-bird had shouldered them out. 
As soon as he is fledged the graceless little fel- 
low deserts his foster parents and skulks about 
the woods, till, after a time, he instinctively 



4 2 ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

joins those of the same feather, proving the 
adage. 

This bird is about seven inches long. The 
head, neck and breast is light chocolate brown ; 
the rest of the body black. 

But the most lively and cheeryble member of 
this family is called the Rice Troopial, Doli- 
chonyx oryzivorus. In the southern states he is 
called the Rice-bird ; in the middle states, the 
Reed-bird, or Reed-bunting; but all through the 
north he is known as the Bob-o-link, or Bob- 
linkum. These birds begin their journey from 
the south in March, and go leisurely along, fast 
or slow, as they find supplies, until May, or 
early June, finds them just taking possession of 
the meadows from Massachusetts to the Missis- 
sippi, all through the northern states. 

" June's bridesman, poet o' the year, 
Gladness on wings, the Bob-o-link, is here; 
Half-hid in tip-top apple-blooms he sings, 
Or climbs aginst the breeze with quiverin' wings, 
Or, givin' way to 't in a mock despair, 
Runs down, a brook o' laughter, thro' the air." 



THE BOB-O-LINK. 43 

" O rapture! sunshine winged and voiced, 
Pipe blown through by the warm wild breath of the West, 
Shepherding his soft droves of fleecy cloud, 
Gladness of woods, skies, waters, all in one, 
The Bob-o-link has come, and, like the soul 
Of the sweet season vocal in a bird, 
Gurgles in ecstasy we know not what 

Save June ! Dear June I Now God be praised for June !" 

— Lowell. 

The male has put on his wedding suit, black, 
trimmed about the head, shoulders and back 
with white. He is in excellent spirits, and 
pours forth incessant strains of lively music 
from every bush and fence. As he flits from 
tree to tree, by short fluttering sweeps, hover- 
ing over the field, he utters a jingling medley 
of sounds, rapid, constant and confused, which 
seem hardly possible from the throat of a 
single bird. Almost every listener translates 
his song variously. All know his opening 
strain, bob 'lee, bob 'link, bob 'linkee, bob 'link, but 
every school-boy hears his own mischievous 
prank- described in the jargon that follows, 
and every blushing girl knows he is the " little 



44 ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

bird that tells." Bat summer rolls on, and 
Robert of Lincoln finds a family upon his 
hands. He becomes more sedate. The gay 
white slashing of his coat is exchanged for the 
brownish yellow livery of his mate, and instead 
of his joyous spring-time song, he can only 
whistle bob 'lee, — bob 'lee, which soon becomes 
only 'meet 'weet, b'leet, b'leet. He is about six 
inches long. 

Madam Bob-o-link hides her nest very care- 
fully and successfully in the thick grass. A 
nest which is before the writer just fills a paper 
collar-box, four inches in diameter, and two 
inches deep. It is merely a mass of short stalks 
and leaves of dried grass, hollowed out at the 
top. The six tiny eggs in it are about three- 
fourths of an inch long, quite pointed at the 
smaller end, pearly-white, and spattered with 
brown spots, which are largest and thickest at 
the broad end of the egg. 

Like the other birds of this family, the Bob>- 
o-links feed mostly upon insects, but, at harvest, 
show a decided taste for grain and corn. About 



WHO TEACHES THE BIRDS? 45 

the middle of August they begin to migrate 
southwards. They are found in large flocks 
along the reedy shores of the Delaware, fatten- 
ing upon the fields of wild rice, and many of 
them are taken for the markets of Philadelphia 
and New York. As the season advances they 
go on, and passing through the rice swamps of 
the Carolinas, become the Butter-birds of the 
West Indies. 

Who taught these birds of the air to take 
their annual journey ? How do they know the 
time of their flight? Who shows them the 
route from their winter homes in the sunny 
south to their summer mansions in the meadows 
and forests of the north ? Who taught them to 
build their nests? Who tuned their varied 
6ong? These questions rise concerning all our 
summer birds, and though we can not tell how 
they learn to trace their way from one old 
haunt to another, we know that the same Being 
who painted their beautiful plumage, and tuned 
their melodious song, gave them an instinctive 
knowledge which forces them to do that which 



46 ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

is fitting at the right time and in the right way. 
Having no choice, no will, no reason, they can 
not go wrong, but work out their results 
according to the plan which their Creator 
designed. 



THE O'LINCON FAMILY. 

A flock of merry singing-birds were sporting in the grove; 
Some were warbling cheerily, and some were making love; 
There were Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, Con- 

queedle, — 
A livelier set were never led by tabor, pipe, or fiddle, 
Crying, " Phew, shew, Wadolincon, see, see, Bobolincon, 
Down among the tickletops, hiding in the buttercups I 
I know the saucy chap, I see his shining cap 
Bobbing in the clover there, — see, see, see!" 

Up flies Bobolincon, perching on an apple tree, 
Startled by his rival's song, quickened by his raillery. 
Soon he spies the rogue afloat, curvetting in the air, 
And merrily he turns about, and warns him to beware ! 
" 'Tis you that would a-wooing go, down among the 

rushes O ! 
But wait a week, till flowers are cheery, — wait a week, and, 

ere you marry, 



THE OLINCOX FAMILY. 47 

Be sure of a house wherein to tarry ! 

Wadolink, Whiskodink, Tom Denny, wait, wait, wait!" 

Every one's a funny fellow; every one's a little mellow; 
Follow, follow, follow, follow, o'er the hill, and in the 

hollow ! 
Merrily, merrily, there they hie; now they rise and now 

they fly; 
They cross and turn, and in and out, and down in the 

middle, and wheel about, — 
With a "Whew, shew, Wadolincon, listen to me, Bobo- 

lincon ! 
Happy's the wooing that's speedily doing, that's speedily 

doing, 
That's merry and over with the bloom of the clover! 
Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, follow, follow me." 

Oh! what a happy life they lead, over the hill and in the 

mead ! 
How they sing, and how they play! See, they fly away, 

away ! 
Now they gambol over the clearing, — off again, and then 

appearing ! 
Poised aloft on quivering wing, now they soar, and now 

they sing : — 
" We must all be merry and moving; we must all be happy 

and loving ; 
For when the midsummer has come, and the grain has 

ripened its ear, 



4$ ABOUT BLACKBIRDS. 

The haymakers scatter our young, and we mourn for the 

rest of the year; 

Then Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, haste, haste 

away ! " 

— Atlantic Monthly. 




THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. Picus pubescens. 



About Wo 



odpeckers. 



Vbrtebrata. — Aves. 

Order — Scansores.— Climbers. 

Family — Picidm. — From picu6, a "Woodpecker. 




If v 

just 
eye, 



AT-TAT-TAT. Rat-tat-M-tat Do 

you hear him ? There he is, on 

the dead top of that old oak 

tree. Here he comes, with his 

curving sweep, and lights on the 

trunk of this rock-maple. Now 

he sees you, and puts the tree 

between you and him, for safety. 

on go round to see him, he goes round too, 

ping about the side, to keep you in one 

while with the other he peers into every 



S 2 ABOUT WOODPECKERS. 

cranny in the bark, into every old knot-hole or 
decayed spot, for any worm or grub which may 
have hidden itself away. Back he goes, and is 
hammering away again at that old tree, scoop- 
ing out a nest for himself and his family. A 
brisk, busy, wide-awake bird, this Woodpecker, 
and one that will amuse you if you watch him 
closely. 

His feet are not like those of most birds. The 
toes point, two before and two behind, and so, 
like the two hooks which grasp the ends of a 
barrel and lift it in the air, these hooks hold to 
the bark of the tree and allow the bird to run 
up or down, or hold on and hammer away at 
his leisure. His tail is armed with stiff pointed 
feathers, and while he clings with his claws this 
tail serves as a brace, the stiff quills resting 
against the bark and holding him up. His 
beak is hard, and sharp pointed. His tongue 
is upon the end of a long bone which divides 
at the throat, passes on each side of the neck 
and then unites again and goes on over the 
back of the head and the forehead, almost to 



THEIR NESTS. S3 

the base of the beak. By this means he can 
thrust out his tongue an inch or two beyond his 
beak, and spear an insect on its barbed point, 
as a fisherman spears a fish. Such as are too 
small to be harpooned thus, are caught by a 
slimy saliva which moistens the tongue. 

The Woodpecker does not build a nest; he 
burrows. With his ivory beak he bores a hole 
in the body of a tree, usually finding some spot 
where the wood is decayed, and then, when he 
has reached the heart of the tree, he continues 
the burrow downwards, enlarging it into a con- 
venient pocket. Here the eggs are laid, on no 
other bed than the few chips which the bird has 
not taken the trouble to remove. Sometimes 
the nest is entered by the wren, who allows the 
Woodpeckers to go on until he thinks the hole 
large enough for his purpose, and then drives 
them out and takes possession. At other times 
the black snake glides up the trunk, enters the 
burrow of the bird, eats up the eggs or young, 
and makes itself at home. 

The eager school-boy," says Wilson, 



a < 



54 ABOUT WOODPECKERS. 

" after risking his neck to reach the Wood- 
pecker's hole, at the triumphant moment 
when he thinks the nestlings his own, and 
strips his arm, launching it into the cavity, 
and grasping what he conceives to be the 
callow young, starts with horror at the sight 
of a hideous snake, and almost drops from his 
giddy pinnacle, retreating down the tree with 
terror and precipitation. One adventure of 
this kind was attended with serious conse- 
quences, where both snake and boy fell to the 
ground, and a broken thigh cured the adven- 
turer of his ambition for robbing Wood- 
pecker's nests." The nest of the Woodpecker, 
unlike those of most other birds, is exceed- 
ingly filthy, the smell being almost beyond 
human endurance. 

Some twenty-five species of Woodpeckers are 
found in America, and others are known in all 
quarters of the globe. Of the American varie- 
ties, one of the best known is the little Downy 
Woodpecker, Picus pubescens. This bird is 
about six inches long. His head is velvety 



THE DOWNT WOODPECKER. 55 

black on the crown, and scarlet on the back, 
with a white streak over the eye. The back is 
black, marked with a stripe of downy w r hite 
feathers. The wings and tail are black, spotted 
with white. The female has no scarlet on 
the head. 

Because this bird digs holes in the bark of 
fruit trees, people wrongly suppose that he 
injures the tree, and therefore kill him. 

"Wilson says : " In the fall he is particularly 
fond of boring the apple trees for insects, dig- 
ging a circular hole through the bark just suffi- 
cient to admit his bill; after that a second, 
third, etc., in pretty regular circles round the 
body of the tree. These circles of holes are 
often not more than an inch apart, and some- 
times so close together that I have covered 
eight or ten of them with a dollar. From near 
the surface of the ground to the first fork, and 
Bometimes far beyond it, the whole bark of 
many apple trees is perforated in this manner, 
bo as to appear as if made by successive dis- 
charges of buck-shot; and our little Wood- 



56 ABOUT WOODPECKERS. 

pecker is chiefly guilty of this supposed mis- 
chief. I say supposed, for they are not only 
harmless, hut really good for the health and 
fertility of the tree. In more than fifty orchard* 
which I have myself examined, those trees 
which were marked by the Woodpecker were 
uniformly the most thriving and productive. 
Many were upwards of sixty years old, theii 
trunks completely covered with holes, while the 
broad branches were loaded with fruit. Of 
decayed trees, more than three-fourths were 
not touched by the Woodpecker." 

The largest American bird of this family, 
and the handsomest, is the Ivory-billed Wood- 
pecker, Campephilus principalis. This bird is 
about twenty-two inches long. His general 
color is black, glossed with green. A white 
stripe runs dowfi the sides of his neck and 
along his back, tipping the feathers of the 
wings. The back of his head is adorned with 
a beautiful scarlet crest. His beak is long, 
ivory white, and nearly an inch broad at thft 
base. 



THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 57 

When he has been at work upon a tree, he 
leaves a heap of bark and chips, by which he 
may be known as an active workman. Large 
strips of bark are torn off, and the wood is 
perked with holes as if a steel tool had been 
used. Yet the bird only attacks the decayed 
wood, to reach the grubs and worms within, 
leaving the sound wood untouched. 

Like the others of the family, this bird dis;s 
his nest in the substance of the tree. The 
opening is carefully placed under some branch, 
that the driving rain may not enter; the hole 
is bored inwards a few inches, and then turns 
downward, extending from ten inches to nearly 
three feet. The diameter of the nest is about 
seven inches, but the opening is only large 
enough to admit the bird. 

His note, when caught or wounded, resem- 
- the cry of a young child. Mr. Wilson 
caught one near Wilmington, and took it to 
town in the box of his carriage. The cries of 
the bird attracted much attention, and the 
landlord at the hotel looked rather surprised 



5 8 ABOUT WOODPECKERS. 

when Mr. Wilson asked for care for himself 
and his baby. The bird was locked up in a 
room, and Mr. "W*. went to look after his horse. 
"When he returned he found the Ivory-bill 
mounted on the side of the window; he had 
broken off the plaster from a space about 
fifteen inches square, had cut a hole through 
the lath, and was fast working his way into the 
outer boarding of the house. In an hour 
longer he would have escaped. A string was 
tied to his leg and he was fastened to the table. 
While his captor was gone to find him some 
food, he attacked the mahogany table, and 
completely ruined it. He would not take food, 
and in a few days died. 

The Indians honor the bold and fiery dispo- 
sition of this bird, and carry its head and beak 
as one of their charms or "medicines." It is 
never found in cultivated tracts, but dwells in 
the lonely forest, among the largest trees, in 
the dim recesses of the cypress swamps. 

Another well known species is the Red- 
headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus. 



THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 59 

This is one of the commonest birds, bold and 
not afraid of the society of man. He is as 
active in boring for insects as any other, while 
it must be confessed that he does some mischief. 
Wherever a tree, whether of cherry, peach, or 
apple, bears particularly good fruit, he is at 
hand to taste the earliest and the ripest, and if 
caught in the act, he thrusts his bill into the 
best specimen at hand and flies away with it, 
uttering a loud exulting scream. He likes to 
find his way through the husks into the rich, 
milky ears of Indian corn. Towards autumn 
he comes about the farmhouses and barns, and 
one often hears his lively tattoo on the shingles. 
On account of his pranks in the garden he 
is much disliked, and a bounty is sometimes 
offered for his head. But, like other birds 
which are in bad odor, it may be a grave ques- 
tion whether, after all, he does not do more 
good than harm — whether he takes more than 
toll for the fruit he has helped to save. He is a 
gay fellow, and his bright colors contrast finely 



60 ABOUT WOODPECKERS. 

with the green foliage, as he sweeps from tree 
to tree. 

The head and neck are scarlet, and the upper 
parts of the body black, with a steel-blue gloss; 
a broad band across the wings and the lower 
half of the back is white. As the bird flies he 
looks as if he wore a white gown, with a black 
mantle over his shoulders, and a scarlet hood. 
He is about nine inches long. His note is 
shrill, and not unlike the cry of a tree-frog. 

The Golden-winged Woodpecker, or Yellow- 
hammer, Colaptes auratus. This bird comes on 
the first bright days of Spring. He is a brisk 
creature, skipping about the tree trunks with 
great activity, running up or down, or spirally, 
either at play or in search of food. He may be 
tamed, but must be kept in a strong wire cage, 
without any wood, or he will, like the Ivory- 
bill, make a speedy escape. Even then his 
incessant hammering, begun at early dawn, 
will make too much racket for ears which 
would enjoy ordinary quiet. 

He is about twelve inches long. His general 



ENGLISH WOODPECKERS. 6 1 

color is olive brown, with bands of black, and 
a black crescent on the breast; the lower parts 
are yellowish white, with black spots ; the 
under surface of the wings and tail gamboge 
yellow. lie has a crescent of red on the back 
of the head. 

The most common English Woodpecker is 
the Green Woodpecker, Geciims viridis. The 
boys call him Rain-bird, Wood-spite, Hew-hole, 
and Wood-wall. 

Another is known as the Great Spotted 
Woodpecker, Picus major. Their habits are 
too nearly like those already mentioned to 
require description. 




THE CROWNED PIGEON. Qaura Coronata. 



About Doves. 



Vkrtebrata. — Ayes. 

Order — Columbm. — Latin, Columba % a Dove. 




bird is more generally bek 
than the Dove. The domestic 
Doves which throng about our 
dwellings attract us by their grace- 
ful forms, their delicate plumage, 
and their soft, liquid notes. Their 
wild relatives are loved as well for 
all these qualities, and for their 
gentle and constant affection for each other. 
The youngest child stretches out his hand in 
delight for the cooing dove. The maiden loves 
to feel it nestle in her bosom, a willing pris- 



66 ABOUT DOVES. 

oner — to smooth its snowy plumage, and allay 
its rising fear. The mother finds a type of her 
own maternal fondness in the care of the Dove 
for her young, and the sorrowing mourner 
hears her own woes re-echoed in the sad moan 
of the Turtle-dove, bewailing her murdered 
mate. All through the Winter, when other 
birds have flown to sunnier lands, the glancing 
wings and rushing sweep of the flying Doves 
enliven the chilly scene, while at all seasons 
their presence, coming and going, gentle, 
harmless, familiar, makes the day, and the 
home, more cheery and sunshiny. 

With few exceptions their flight is swift, and 
they can continue it for a long distance. The 
family is found in nearly all parts of the world, 
but is most abundant in warm climates. The 
colors of those best known to us are soft and 
delicate, rather than deep or brilliant, though 
some parts, especially the feathers about the 
neck, glow with changeful beauty. In warmer 
lands their plumage is varied with the most 
beautiful colors, and elegant forms. 



THE ROCK DOVE. 6? 

All the birds of this order have a double 
crop. In this receptacle the food is mingled 
with a milky juice, until the mass becomes soft 
and pulpy; a portion of this is raised into the 
beak and fed to the young. 

The first species which we will mention is 
the Rock Dove, Columba Una. It has this 
name because it frequents rocks rather than 
trees; even the young which escape from the 
dove-cot, and from broods which for many 
generations have never known any thing but 
>den houses, build in rocky caverns rather 
than in trees. The general color of the wild 
Rock Dove is some shade of gray ; the neck 
and throat are varied with chano-insr hues of 

o o 

green and purple; the wings are barred with 
black. 

From the Rock Dove have sprung all the 
many varieties of domestic Doves. Indeed, 
these birds can hardly be called tame, or 
domesticated. For the rocky cave, to which 
the bird's nature directs hi in, man substitutes 
a wooden box, and the Dove takes possession 



68 



ABOUT DOVES. 



of it, very much as the martin occupies the 
box provided for him, and as the chimney 
swallow builds in a place constructed by man. 
The management of the dove-cot has become 
quite an art, and may be made profitable from 
the great number of young pigeons which are 
continually produced. It is said that a dove- 
house is best in the form of a circular tower. 
The rows of boxes should be so arranged 
about the inside that the partitions in one row 
of boxes may stand over the openings of the 
range beneath. The tower should be so large 
that a person standing in the centre can con- 
veniently reach the boxes. A horizontal shelf, 
covered upon the under side with sheet iron, 
should be placed below the boxes to prevent 
rats from climbing up for the eggs or young 
birds. The boxes should be high enough to 
allow the bird to stand when feeding its young, 
and each box should have a platform before it, 
and be closed in front, with a hole just large 
enough for the bird to enter. This will prevent 
other Doves from disturbing the rightful tenants 



FANCT PIGEONS. 69 

when Bitting. When the young birds are of 
proper age, those which the keeper wishes to 
mate should be shut up together, and in a short 
time they become so attached that only death 
or removal will divorce them. The Dove 
hatches a pair of eggs every month. The eggs 
are laid in three days, and hatched in fifteen 
more; the female sits by night, and the male 
during the day. When the young Doves, called 
Bquabs, are hatched, they require warmth for 
about three days, and are fed after this for 
about ten days, although they are sometimes 
found in the nest until the next brood is 
hatched. 

Several curious varieties have been reared by 
pigeon fanciers, some of which are so unlike, 
that one would hardly recognize them as kin- 
dred. The Broad-tailed, or Fan-tailed Shaker, 
has a large number of feathers in its tail, which 
it spreads like a turkey, and shakes like a pea- 
cock. This pigeon flies awkwardly, and is apt 
to be overset <>r carried away by the wind. The 
Jacobin Pigeon has a frill of raised feathers, 



7° ABOUT DOVES. 

beginning at the back of the head and extend- 
ing down the sides of the neck, which resem- 
bles the hood worn by monks. Its head, wings 
and tail are always white ; the other parts are 
often reddish brown, or fawn-colored, and 
sometimes white. The birds which are all 
white are most prized. A very curious variety, 
called the Pouter, or Cropper, has a way of 
puffing out his crop with air, until it is larger 
than himself. When the crop is inflated the 
other Doves sometimes strike it w T ith their 
bills, and pierce a hole through the thin wall, 
thus causing the poor bird's death. The habit 
is unnatural and is likely to cause disease, so 
that the variety is not much esteemed. There 
are many other kinds, as Nuns, Owls, Barbs, 
Turbits, Horsemen, etc. 

The Carrier Pigeon is also considered a 
variety of the Common House Dove. All 
pigeons are very fond of home, and have a 
wonderful pow r er of finding their way back to 
their mates, when they have been separated. 
The remarkable feats of the Carrier Pigeon 



CARRIER PIGEONS. 7 1 

have been made famous in prose and verse. In 
the wars of the ancient Romans, and during the 
Crusades, these birds were used to carry news 
from the inhabitants of besieged cities. Some- 
times they were caught by the hawks of the 
besieging army, and the message fell into hands 
different from those intended. In later times 
Tigeons carried news of markets, and such 
items as are now sent by telegraph. In Turkey 
sentinels were posted in wooden towers at reg- 
ular distances of thirty or forty miles, and the 
Pigeons flew from tower to tower. They wore 
about their necks little boxes of very thin gold, 
in which the messages were carried. After 
steamships crossed the ocean, Pigeons took the 
news from Halifax to Boston ; when vessels 
arrived off Sandy Hook they were announced 
in Xew York in the same way. 

To train the birds for this service, they are 
first carried in a bag or basket about half a 
mile from home, and then let go. This is done 
several times, and then the distance is increased 
to two, four, ten or twenty miles, until they 



7 2 ABOUT DOVES. 

will return from any place. The message is 
written upon the finest of thin paper, and 
fastened with a pin to a feather under the wing, 
or tied with a string to the leg. The birds fly 
about twenty-five miles an hour. In foggy 
weather they are often lost; and when the 
ground is covered with snow they do not find 
their way easily. When starting, they rise to a 
great height, hover for a while in an undecided 
manner, and then, as if they had found the 
way, dart off like an arrow. 

The Turtle Dove has always been regarded as 
the emblem of tender affection, from its gen- 
eral behavior, and from its gentle soothing 
note. The sacred writers loved the bird as 
coming with the Spring: "For the time of 
the singing of birds is come, and the voice of 
the Turtle is heard in our land." The Ameri- 
can Turtle, or Carolina Figeon, Columba Caro- 
linaisis, is generally known throughout the 
United States. Its flight is quick and strong, 
and marked by a peculiar whistling of the 
wings, different from that of the wild pigeon. 



THE TURTLE DOVE. 73 

This bird is a favorite with all who wander in 
the forest, and listen to its mournful music. It 
has four notes; the first is high and seems to 
prepare for those which follow, three long, 
deep moanings, which win the sympathy of 
every hearer. After a few minutes' pause, the 
same mournful strain is repeated. The song, 
after all, is not mournful, but is a call of love, 
similar to those which have made the whole 
family celebrated. 

The nest is rudely constructed of a handful 
of twigs, covered with fibrous roots, and con- 
tains two white eggs. The bird is about 
twelve inches long; its colors, above, brown- 
ish drab ; below, pale olive. 

Audubon describes a beautiful Dove which 
lives upon the small islands called Keys, about 
the coast of Florida. Its cooing is so peculiar 
that any one asks " what bird is that?" A 
man, who had once been a pirate, said that 
the soft and melancholy cry of this Dove, heard 
it the wells which the pirate crew had dug 
in one of those Keys, awakened in his heart 



74 ABOUT DOVES. 

feelings of penitent sorrow. So deeply was ho 
moved by the notes of the bird, the only sooth- 
ing sounds he had heard while in his wild 
career, that he determined to desert his ship 
and try to escape. He returned to the well, 
and listening to the cooings of the Zenaida 
Dove, he prayed for mercy, and became again 
in honest man. 

This bird places her nest on the ground, 
sometimes very carelessly, and at other times 
closely covered with tufts of grass. When sit- 
ting, she seldom leaves her nest, unless some 
one tries to catch her; then she waits and 
watches until the hand is almost on her, and 
she is off in a twinkling. The Zenaida is 
about the size of the Turtle Dove ; plumage 
above, light brown, tinged with gray; under- 
neath, brownish red, also passing into gray. 

The Passenger Pigeon, of America, Ectopistes 
migratorius, is the most remarkable member of 
this whole family, on account of the untold 
numbers of the flocks in which it moves from 
place to place. Both Audubon and Wilson 



FL TING PIGE ONS. 7 5 

give accounts of them which are almost too 
wonderful to believe. Audubon left his home, 
in Kentucky, one morning, and as the Pigeons 
were flying very thickly, sat down to count the 
flocks aa they passed. He put down a dot for 
each flock, and in twenty-one minutes had 
noted one hundred and sixty-three dots. He 
went on his way, and at night reached Louis- 
ville, fifty-five miles distant, but the Pigeons 
were yet flying, and so continued for three 
days! "A hawk chanced to press upon the 
rear of a flock. At once, like a torrent, and 
with a noise like thunder, they rushed into a 
compact mass, pressing upon each other toward 
the center. In these solid masses they darted 
forward in indulatino; and angular lines, 
descended and swept over the earth with 
inconceivable velocity, mounted perpendicu- 
larly so as to resemble a vast column, and 
when high were seen wheeling and twisting 
within their continued lines, which then resem- 
bled the coils of a gigantic serpent." If one 
wished to see the scene repeated, he had only 



7^ ABOUT PIGEONS. 

to wait until the next flock came up, when it 
would follow through the same movements. 

" As soon as the Pigeons discover sufficient 
food to entice them to alight, they fly in circles, 
reviewing the country below. During the evo- 
lutions on such occasions the dense mass which 
they form exhibits a beautiful appearance as it 
changes direction, now displaying a glistening 
sheet of azure, when the backs of the birds 
come together into view, and anon, suddenly 
presenting a mass of deep, rich purple. They 
then pass lower, over the woods, and for a 
moment are lost among the foliage, but again 
emerge and are seen flying aloft. They now 
alight, but the next moment, as if suddenly 
alarmed, they take to wing, producing by the 
flapping of their wings a noise like the roar of 
distant thunder, and sweep through the forest to 
see if danger is near. Hunger, however, soon 
brings them to the ground. When alighted 
they are seen industriously throwing up the 
leaves in quest of fallen mast. The rear ranks 
are continually rising, passing over the main 



THEIR NESTING PLACES. 77 

body, and alighting in front, in such rapid suc- 
cession that the whole flock seems still on the 
wing. The quantity of ground thus swept is 
astonishing, and so completely has it been 
cleared that the gleaner who might follow in 
the rear would find his labor completely lost. 
Whilst feeding, their avidity is so great at 
times that in attempting to swallow a large 
acorn or nut they are seen gasping a long 
while, as if in the agonies of suffocation." 

The same author visited a nesting place of 
the Pigeons, on Green River, in Kentucky. It 
occupied a part of the dense forest, where the 
trees were large and the underbrush scanty, 
and extended over a space forty miles long and 
three miles wide. The birds had been there 
about two weeks, and a large number of people 
from all directions had encamped near the 
border. Some had come more than an hun- 
dred miles, and had driven their hogs to fatten 
upon the Pigeons. Towards night every body 
prepared to receive the flock with pots of 
burning sulphur, torches, poles, and guns. 



7^ ABOUT PIGEONS. 

" Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of 
' Here they come.' The noise which they 
made, though yet distant, reminded me of a 
hard gale at sea, passing through the rigging 
of a close reefed vessel. As the birds passed 
over me I felt a current of air that surprised 
me. Thousands were soon knocked down by 
the pole-men ; the birds continued to pour in, 
the fires were lighted, and a most magnificent 
as well as wonderful and terrifying sight 
presented itself. The Pigeons arriving by 
thousands alighted every where, one above 
another, until solid masses as large as hogs- 
heads were formed on the branches all around. 
Here and there the perches gave way with a 
crash, and falling on the ground destroyed 
hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down 
the dense groups with which every stick was 
loaded. 

" It was a scene of uproar and confusion ; no 
one dared venture within the line of devasta- 
tion ; the hogs had been penned up in due 
time, the picking up of the dead and wounded 



WJIA T THE T EAT. 79 

being left for next morning's employment. 
The Pigeons were constantly coming, and it 
was past midnight before I perceived a decrease 
in the number of those that arrived. Towards 
the approach of day the noise in some measure 
subsided ; long before objects were distinguish- 
able the Pigeons began to move off in a direc- 
tion quite different from that in which they had 
arrived the evening before, and at sunrise all 
that were able to fly had disappeared. The 
bowlings of the wolves now reached our ears, 
and the foxes, lynxes, bears, raccoons and opos- 
sums were seen sneaking off, whilst eagles and 
hawks of different species, accompanied by a 
crowd of vultures, came to supplant them and 
enjoy their share of the spoil." 

This Pigeon feeds on mast, which includes 
beech note, acorns, and chestnuts, and on all 
varieties of grain, seeds, and berries. The 
amount which such enormous flocks consume 
must he likewise enormous. Wilson describes 
a flock of Pigeons a mile wide and two hun- 
dred and forty miles long, and assuming that 



80 ABOUT PIGEONS. 

there were three birds in every square yard, 
and that each bird eats half a pint of food a 
day, their daily rations would amount to seven- 
teen million bushels. For this reason their 
range of feeding must be very great, or they 
would soon leave famine behind them. They 
can the more easily extend their flight by their 
large and strong wings, so that in a few hours 
they may have removed to a distant land. One 
was shot, in the State of New York, whose crop 
was full of rice, which he must have gathered 
in the rice swamps of Carolina, and which 
could not have been in his crop more than six 
hours without being changed more than it was. 
The distance must have been at least three 
hundred miles, so that his speed could not 
have been less than fifty miles an hour. When 
settlements have become numerous, and the 
Pigeons have been much hunted, the large 
flocks become scattered, and the birds are shy. 
The length of the wild Pigeon is about six- 
teen inches, but the long pointed tail occupies 
quite a portion, and the actual size is rathei 



THE OCEANIC FRUIT PIGEON. 8 1 

less than that of the common Dove. The 
plumage is bluish-gray above; the breast is 
reddish-brown ; the neck is shot with gold, 
green, and purplish crimson; the wings and 
tail are edged with white. Two or three 
broods are hatched each season, each brood 
consisting of a male and female. 

A beautiful bird is found in the Pelew 
Islands, called the Oceanic Fruit Pigeon, Car- 
pophaga oceanica. It is a forest bird, and is 
very fond of the mace, or outer covering of 
the nutmeg. This food gives its flesh a very 
delicate aromatic flavor, which makes it in 
great demand. During the nutmeg season it 
becomes very fat, so that it even bursts open 
when brought down by the gun. Besides its 
value for food, it is very useful in planting the 
nutmeg tree. It swallows the nutmeg, with 
its covering, but only the mace digests, and the 
nut is not only uninjured as it passes through 
the bird's stomach, but it is with difficulty 
made to grow in any other way ; when planted 



82 ABOUT PIGEONS. 

by man it must pass through a peculiar prepa- 
ration to make it come up. 

This bird wears a singular knot at the base 
of the upper part of the beak, about the size 
and shape of a cherry. The plumage of the 
back is light green ; the throat and breast are 
rusty gray, and the neck gray, shot with blue. 
The length is about fourteen inches. 

The most conspicuous of the family is the 
Crowned Pigeon, Gaura coronata. It is a 
native of Java, and New Guinea. It is very 
large, and its crest gives it an appearance 
quite unlike the rest of the pigeons. It has 
a majestic gait, and a queer habit of lying in 
the sun with its wing stretched over itself, stiff, 
and spread like a tent. Its cry is loud, and 
sounding, like a mixture of trombone and 
drum, and when it utters its note it bows so 
low as to sweep the ground with its crest. 

In the Mauritius, about two hundred and 
fifty years ago, the Dutch voyagers found a 
large bird which naturalists have classed with 
the Pigeons. This bird the old Dutchmen 



THE DODO. 83 

called Dod-aers, meaning bird-that-wallows, 

and the word has been contracted to Dodo. 
The species lias long since vanished, and now 
nothing is left to prove that it ever lived, 
except a few drawings, and the head and feet 
of a single specimen. 

One voyager wrote of it: " It hath a great 
ill-favored head, covered with a kind of mem- 
brane resembling a hood; a bending,, promi- 
nent, fat neck; an extraordinary long, strong, 
bluish-white bill. Its gape, huge, wide, as 
being naturally very voracious. Its body is 
fat and round, covered with soft, gray feathers, 
after the manner of an ostrich. It hath yellow 
legs, thick, but very short; four toes in each 
foot; solid, long, as it were scaly, armed with 
strong black claws. The flesh, especially the 
breast, is fat, esculent, and so copious that 
three or four Dodos will sometimes suffice to 
fill one hundred seamen's bellies." 

They were so plentiful at one time, and so 
easily killed, that the sailors were in the habit 
of slaying them for the stones found in their 



84 ABOUT PIGEONS. 

stomachs, winch the men used to sharpen their 
clasp-knives. 

In this instance an entire race of creatures 
has vanished from the earth, within the mem- 
ory of man. The records of the rocks show 
that many other species, even entire orders of 
animals, have disappeared in like manner. So 
also other races have been created and placed 
in such circumstances as were adapted to their 
growth and preservation. Each species has 
had the form, the clothing, the habits which 
the Creator gave it at its beginning of life, 
and no instance has ever been found in which 
one tribe, or family, or species, has gradually 
changed and developed into another. 



About Crows. 



Order — Irisessores. — Perchers. 

Tribe — Conirostres. — Having cone-shaped bill*. 

Family — Corvidce. — Latin, Corvus % a Crow. 




>OME we now to a family of 
birds which seldom find favor 
with man. In the first place 
they are black, and there has 
always been a certain fool- 
ish and groundless prejudice 
against any creature which 
wears that sombre color) — a 
black sheep is the derision of the flock; a black 
cat is the lit confidant of a witch; the prince 
of evil is painted black, though some have 



88 ABOUT CROWS. 

thought him not so black as he is painted; 
a black man is hardly admitted to the rights of 
manhood ; the only exceptions are dogs and 
horses; — and Crows are black. In the next 
placei in the great variety of things which fur- 
nish them a living, they persist in eating cer- 
tain items which man claims as his, and denies 
their right to, particularly corn. Besides, some 
of them like meat which has been kept too 
long, that is, longer than man keeps that which 
he eats, and they eat it without cooking, or 
seasoning. Lastly, they are very cunning, and 
when man sets a price on their scalps, they 
contrive to keep their heads as much out of 
his reach as they can, even helping each other, 
while they jeer at him, and call after him, and 
ridicule him, with their hoarse crow laughter, 
for thinking he can catch them. So people 
give them bad names, deem them birds of foul 
omen, and will not recognize the good they 
do, in spite of all the ill usage they endure. 
For it is manifestly absurd that a bird should 
wear black, eat corn, like high-flavored flesh, 



THE RAVEN. 89 

and avoid a gun, unless lie has something sin- 
ister and wicked in his nature.' 

The first of these birds is the Raven, Corvus 
eorax. lie lives alone, in the wildest regions 
he can find, preferring a hilly country. He 
finds a home in all quarters of the globe, from 
Japan, through Europe, to America, and even 
in the coldest arctic winter, when wine freezes 
near the fire, he flies, eroaking his hoarse cry, 
as carelessly as if the w r eather were that of 
returning spring. His food is mostly animal, 
and is not chosen with much care. In his long 
flight, if he pass a sheep or lamb wdiich is sick, 
or has a broken leg, or lies floundering in the 
mire, he takes pity on it, and then picks its 
bones. Although very cunning, he may be 
brought within gun-shot, if one will lie on his 
back in an exposed place, — without moving, 
for, "though glad to find others carrion, or to 
make carrion of them, he takes good care that 
none shall make carrion of him. But if you 
lie on your back, he will come, you know not 
whence, and hovering round you on slow wing, 



9° ABOUT CROWS 

examine you on all points. If you do not stir 
he will drop down at a little distance and begin 
to hop in a zig-zag fashion, bringing his shoul- 
ders forward alternately. Sometimes he will 
utter his ' cruek-cruck,' and pause to see if 
that makes you stir, and if it does not, he 
moves on faster." 

The Raven also eats all kinds of small game, 
and of birds ; even the spines of the hedge- 
hog will not protect from him. In the west he 
follows the hunter to feed on the offal of the 
game. 

His craft is well illustrated by an anecdote 
related by Captain McClure, the arctic discov- 
erer. Two Ravens were often seen about the 
ship, where she was frozen into her winter 
quarters. As the refuse of a meal was thrown 
out for the dog, the Ravens would put them- 
selves in his way, as if inviting him to make 
his supper of them. The dog would run at 
them, and they would fly just out of his reach; 
then he would make another run, and so they 
tempted him on, until he was quite a distance 



MISCHIEF OF RAVENS. 9 1 

from the ship. Then they would fly back to 
the meat, and devour quite a portion before the 
dog could see the joke and rush back again. 

The Raven is often captured while young, 
and tamed, but he makes a most troublesome 
pet. Unless placed where he can do no possi- 
ble harm, he will get through more mischief 
in an hour than a squad of boys in a day, 
and he sets about his work as gravely, and 
labors as earnestly and persistently, as if he 
had a duty to do, which he was paid for and 
could not morally neglect. One used to watch 
a gardener while training some choice plant. 
The bird would sidle up to it, as if he did not 
see it, and with one wrench of his strong beak 
would lav it flat on the ground. The lady who 
owned the garden declared that the Raven was 
possessed by an evil spirit. He would follow 
behind her, and, as she turned, would still hop 
behind, so that she could never see him. Ilia 
mischief could not be home, and he was killed. 

Another was an adept at fighting dogs. When 
the dog made a rush upon the bird, it would 



9 2 ABOUT CROWS. 

step backward, and at the same time deliver 
a sharp blow with its pointed beak upon the 
dog's nose. A second rush would be parried 
in the same style, and so on until the dog 
could endure no more, and gave up. Another 
Raven was equally skillful in fighting cocks. 
"When his enemy made the attack he would 
quickly step aside and avoid the blow, until at 
a convenient moment he would suddenty end 
the combat by biting off his antagonist's head. 
The Raven was the first bird sent from the 
Ark, after the Deluge, which did not return; 
perhaps that was the same 

" Ghastly, grim and ancient Raven, 
Wandering from the nightly shore," 

which Poe saw in his delirious dream ; which 

M Perched above a bust of Pallas, 
Just above my chamber door, 
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.' 

The ancient Romans connected many super- 
stitions with the Raven. They watched his 
manner of flying, and from that pretended 



THE CARRION CROW. 93 

to foretell if a journey would be safe or suc- 
sfuL They thought that a man who should 
eat the heart of a Raven would become a 
•leaver. 

How much pleasanter the remembrance 
that the Ravens fed Elijah in his hiding place 
beyond the Brook Cherith, bringing him 
11 bread and flesh in the morning, and bread 
and flesh in the evening." 

The Raven is about two feet long, and is 
really a handsome bird. His color is a uni- 
form blue-black, with green reflections. His 
beak is high, round and knife-shaped, and 
surrounded at the base with bristles. Instances 
have been known where he has lived to the 
age of seventy or eighty years without show- 
ing any signs of old age. 

Next of kin is the Carrion Crow, of Europe, 
Cowls corone. This is the bird the poets sing 
of, and is quite different from our Ameri- 
can Crow. In habits he is much like the 
Raven. He got the prefix " carrion " because 
they said he would eat such food, and very 



94 ABOUT CROWS. 

likely he would yet if he could find it, but, 
instead, he has usually to make his living upon 
reptiles, frogs, small birds, and whatever he 
can get. He often visits the sea-shore for the 
shell-fish which he can pick up, and if the 
shell is too hard, he takes it up with him, and 
drops it upon a rock to break it. He flies 
only with his mate, and builds his nest upon 
sorpe tall tree, often near some dwelling. He 
is about eighteen inches long, and wears a 
black and very glossy coat, with reflections of 
purple above, and of green beneath. 
u The American Crow, C. AmerieanuSj is 
smaller than his English namesake, and is 
not, like him, solitary, but gathers in flocks. 
He is about seventeen inches long; his color is 
glossy blue-black. About the middle of March 
the Crows begin to build their nests, usually in 
some high tree. They are made of sticks, 
bark, and moss, compacted with mossy earth, 
and are lined with quite a quantity of horse- 
hair, cow-hair and wool. On this soft and 
elastic bed are laid four pale-green eggs, 



THE AMERICAN CROW, 95 

spotted with olive. When the female is sit- 
ting the male watehea about her and brings 
her food, while both restrain their noisy 
chatter. 

In May and June the Crow does most mis- 
chief, pulling up the corn as it comes up in 
the fields, so that the farmer has often to plant 
his ground a second or even a third time. For 
this he gets no mercy. The myriads of mice, 
beetles, caterpillars and grubs which he has 
• roved are forgotten. He is an outlaw and 
must be executed; But first to catch him. In 
vain the gunner ransres for him, steals aloncr 
the hedges, or hides in ambush. Some sen- 
tinel Crow, perched on a high tree, gives the 
alarm, and, far and near, the Crows answer 
and fly. When the man is gone, and the coast 
is clear, they return and finish their meal. 

The persecution of the Crow makes him 
very crafty. The farmer often posts in the 
middle of his field an effigy of a man, made 
of a ragged suit, stuffed with straw, but the 
Crow understands that well enough. lie does 



9^ ABOUT CROWS. 

not fear a live man unless "he carries a gun, 
and as for a straw man, — he will stand on his 
shoulder and pick the oats out of his ear. 
Sometimes a wind-mill is contrived to make 
a constant clatter upon a tin pan, but the 
Crow soon gets used to that, — he can m&ke 
more noise himself. But when the farmer 
stretches strings hither and thither across his 
fields the Crow is in doubt. There is some 
mystery about those lines which he can not 
fathom, and his caution keeps him out of 
the way. 

In some states rewards have been offered 
for killing Crows, as for destroying panthers, 
wolves and foxes. They have been caught 
with clap-nets, and poisoned with drugged 
corn. Some have been taken with pieces of 
paper rolled up into cones, and smeared inside 
with bird-lime. A kernel of corn is put in the 
bottom of the cone, and when the Crow puts 
his head in, to take the corn, the lime glues the 
paper to his face, and shuts his eyes. One 
farmer exposed a dead horse near his barn. 



THE GOOD THEY DO. 97 

As the crows gathered he shot them from a 
hiding place within, and so killed more than 
six hundred during the winter. The bounties 
on Crows and the price of the quills nearly 
paid for the horse, and the feathers filled a 
feather bed ! 

Yet, says Audubon, " The Crow devours 
myriads of grubs, every day in the year, that 
might lay waste the farmer's fields. It 
destroys quadrupeds innumerable, every one 
of which is an enemy to his poultry, and to 
his flocks. I can but wish men would 
reflect a little, and become more indulgent 
toward our poor, humble, harmless, and even 
most serviceable bird, the Crow." 

In particular, the Crow is very fond of the 
11 cut-worm " which does so much mischief by 
eating off corn, and other vegetables, just at 
the surface of the ground. There are hardly 
any of our insect-eating birds, which, at 
times, do not find it necessary to eke out their 
living with grain, chiefly corn. For this 
offence, eastern farmers have waged war upon 



9§ ABOUT CROWS, 

birds of all kinds to such an extent that their 
numbers have been much diminished, and, as 
a result, the number of harmful insects is very 
much increased. A quantity of English Spar- 
rows was lately imported into New York to 
destroy the insects, but if our native birds 
could live unmolested, they would do all that 
is needed, and if they can not live, the spar- 
rows will be likely to suffer the same fate. 

The Crow is easily tamed, and then his true 
genius begins to be known. He soon learns 
all the members of the family, and screams at 
a stranger; can open a door by alighting on 
the latch ; is very regular at breakfast and din- 
ner, recollecting punctually the hour; is very 
noisy and talkative; can speak words quite 
distinctly; is a great thief, and hider of curi- 
osities, secreting in holes and odd corners 
every article he can carry away, particularly 
small pieces of metal, corn, bread, and other 
kinds of foodA A story is told of one which 
lived for some time in a family, and at length 
disappeared. It was supposed that he had 



THE ROOK. 99 

been shot. About eleven months after, while 
his master was standing by the river, one of a 
flock of Crows, which passed by, alighted on 
his shoulder and began to gabble away with 
great earnestness, as if he had found an old 
friend. The gentleman recognized the bird, 
and made several attemps, in a quiet way, to 
lay hold of him ; but the Crow was too wary 
to be caught, and flew away after his com- 
panions. 

A somewhat noted bird of this family is the 
Rook, C. frugilegus. This bird seems to be 
hated by English farmers quite as the Crow is 
hated by Americans, and the warfare between 
them is conducted in very much the same way. 
The farmer puts up scarecrows and racket- 
mills, and shoots the Rook when he can, while 
the Rook picks up the farmer's corn, bores 
holes in his turnips, eats his chickens, and 
keeps shy of his gun. The naturalists admit 
that the bird does some mischief, but contend 
that he docs a great deal more good. They 
insist that he cares more for the wire-worm at 



IOO ABOUT CROWS. 

the root of the corn, than for the kernel, and 
that the worm would kill that shoot and many 
more. They prove that he consumes many 
beetles, both in their perfect state, and while 
they are grubs, and that both beetles and grubs 
are very destructive. So the Rooks seem to 
have the best of it, after all. 

They live in colonies, many thousands some- 
times finding a home on the trees of a single 
park. They pile sticks together into large 
and rather clumsy nests, and gather some softer 
material on which to lay their eggs. In these 
bird-towns there seems to be certain unwrit- 
ten laws which the birds understand and obey. 
One law forbids any Rooks from dwelling in 
the limits of the town, except those born 
there ; another forbids young Rooks from 
locating at a distance. Either crime provokes 
a conflict which ends in the destruction of the 
nest of the guilty parties. The old birds con- 
tinue to use their nests year after year, clean- 
ing them a little each Spring. The young 
ones, just beginning to keep house, have to 



COURTS OF JUSTICE. IOI 

build for themselves. If the young birds 
build too near the old ones, it creates trouble, 
and the intruders have to move. 

The Rooks are also said to hold courts for 
the trial of offenders. Some morning a great 
noise is heard in the rookery. The birds 
gather upon a few trees, and one, who sits by 
himself, with drooping head, seems to be the 
center of the disturbance. After much croak- 
ing, and flying hither and thither, in which 
may easily be imagined the examination of 
witnesses, the pleas of advocates, the charge 
of a judge, and the verdict of a jury, the 
birds fall upon the culprit and execute sen- 
tence of death. They particularly punish such 
lazy and dishonest Rooks as will not go away 
and bring sticks for their own nests, but stay 
at home and rob the nests of others. They 
are so intelligent as to observe the marks made 
on the trees which are to be cut for timber, 
and will not build, or allow the young birds 
to build on them. 

They entice the young birds from the nest 



102 ABOUT CROWS. 

as soon as they can flutter to another tree. 
For a little time they return to the nests to 
roost, but soon leave, and are gone during the 
Summer. In Autumn they return again, and 
sometimes make a few repairs upon their nests, 
but their voices have acquired a softened tone, 
and their meeting seems rather a mournful 
procession revisiting old scenes, than the noisy 
and busy throng of Spring. In a few days 
they are gone again for the Winter. 

The Rook is about nineteen inches long ; 
color, blue-black, glossed with purple. He 
may be distinguished from the Crow by a bald 
place on his forehead, and also at the base of 
the neck, where the feathers do not grow 
again after the first moulting. 

The Jackdaw, C. monedula, is another Eng- 
lish bird of this family, of infinite wit and 
humor. When wild he has many of the 
habits of the Rook. The greetings which 
Mudie describes between a flock of Rooks and 
one of Jackdaws, would make it appear that 
they understand each other. " When the 



THE JACKDAW. I03 

cawing of the Rooks on their morning flight 
was heard, the Jackdaws, which had previously 
been still and quiet, instantly raised their 
Bhriller notes, and flew to join the Rooks, 
both parties clamoring loudly, as if welcom- 
ing each other ; and on the return the Daws 
accompanied the Rooks a little past their 
home; then both cawed their farewell and 
departed. What is more singular, I have seen, 
too frequently for its being merely accidental, 
a Daw return for a short time to the Rooks, a 
lt'»<>k to the Daws, or one from each race meet 
ween, and be noisy for a space after the 
bands had separated. With the reason I do 
not interfere, not being in the secrets of either 
party ; but the fact is as certain as it is 
curious," 

In captivity the Jackdaw is a very amusing 
bird, and learns some very curious tricks. 
Wood saya of one : " He was imitative in the 
extreme, and more than once had put the 
h<»use in danger by his passion for lighting 
friction matches, of which amusement he was 



104 ABOUT CROWS. 

as fond as any child. On one occasion he 
lighted the kitchen fire in the course of the 
night. The cook had laid the fire over night, 
intending to apply the match early in the 
morning. The Jackdaw contrived to get hold 
of the match-box, and had evidently rubbed 
the match upon the bars, and so set fire to the 
combustibles, as the cook found the fire nearly 
out, the Jackdaw in the kitchen, and some 
eighteen or nineteen exploded matches lying 
in the fender. 

" The first time that this Jackdaw lighted a 
match he was so frightened at the sharp crack- 
ling report that he ran away as fast as he could 
go, coughing and sneezing after his fashion 
from the fumes of the sulphur, he having held . 
the match close to the phosphoric end. He 
never seemed to distinguish the ignitible end 
of the match, and would rub away with great 
perseverance on the blank end, without dis- 
covering the cause of his failure. By degrees 
he contrived to singe all the feathers from his 



AFRAID OF THUNDER. I05 

forehead and nostrils, and once burned his foot 
rather severely. 

" He was greatly afraid of thunder, and had 
a singular power of predicting a coming storm. 
In such a case, he would retire to some favorite 
hiding place, generally a dark hole in the wall, 
or a cavity in an old yew which exactly con- 
tained him, and would there tuck himself 
into a very compact form so as to suit the 
dimensions of his hiding place, his body being 
tightly squeezed into the cavity, and his tail 
projecting along the side. In this odd position 
he would remain until the storm had passed 
over, but if he were called by any one whom 
he knew, his confidence would return, and he 
would come out of his hole very joyously in 
ppite of the thunder, crying out, 'Jack's a 
brave bird! 9 as if he entirely understood the 
meaning of the sentence. He may possibly 
have had some idea of the words, for he hated 
being called a coward, and would resent the 
term with all the indignation at his com- 
mand.'' 



Io6 ABOUT CROWS. 

The nest of the Jackdaw is rudely made in 
a hole of some decayed tree or old building. 
His general color is black, marked on the back 
of the head and nape of the neck with gray. 
He is fourteen inches long. 

There are many more birds belonging to 
this large and interesting family, which are 
worthy of notice, but we shall only speak of 
oue, the Magpie, Pica caudata. This bird is 
common in Europe, and in the south-western 
parts of the United States. His food is as 
various as that of the Crow. He is a constant 
robber of birds'-nests, eating the young, or 
stealing the eggs by driving his bill through 
them and flying away. He robs hens' nests in 
this fashion, and gets caught by it. The 
farmer takes away all the eggs but one, and 
that he empties and fills with bird-lime. Mag 
spears it, and flies away with his prize ; he soon 
finds that it will not slip off his beak as he 
would like, and he batters it against a tree 
with a smart blow which scatters the adhesive 



HOW TO MAKE A NEST. I07 

bird-lime over his head and wings, and makes 
him an easy prey. 

The nest of the Magpie is built high in 
the tree. It is roofed over with thorns, leav- 
ing a hole just large enough to admit the 
owner. The building of nests is the subject 
of a curious fable. 

" The birds, not knowing how to build nests, 
went in a body to ask the Magpie to teach 
them, which he was willing to do. 

u ' First,' he said, 4 you must look out for a 
good strong, forked branch and begin by lay- 
ing two sticks crosswise.' 

"'That's just what I did,' said the Rook. 

" ' Next, you must raise the sides a little, 
and then put in some hay, which you must 
work well into the sticks.' 

" ' The very thing I have been doing,' said 
the Crow. 

" ' Now, for fear the eggs should be thrown 
out, you must raise the sides about as high 
as your head when you sit in the bottom of 
the nest, aud put iu some soft wool.' 



Io8 ABOUT CROWS. 

"'Why/ said the Thrush, <I did as far as 
that before I came here.' 

" ' Oh ! then/ replied the Magpie, i as I see 
that you all know how to make nests, there 
is no occasion for me to teach you/ 

" And that is the reason why the other 
birds are only able to build half nests." 

It is said that a Magpie can count three, but 
not four. One had his nest near a hut, in 
which a man hid in order to shoot the bird. 
He saw the man go*in with a gun, and flew 
away. When the man left the bird came back. 
Then two went into the hut, and one came 
out, but Mag would not come back. Next 
three went in, and two came out, with no bet- 
ter luck. Then four went in, and three came 
out; the bird could not count four, and so 
went back and was shot. 

A tame Magpie is very amusing, for its vari- 
ous odd tricks and its ability to talk, which it 
can do nearly as well as a parrot. It is also 
very mischievous, stealing every light thing 
it can carry away and hiding it in some out 



A THIEVISH MAGPIE. IO9 

of the way hole or corner. Servants have 
often been accused of stealing jewels or 
spoons, which the Magpie had secreted in his 
treasury. An old gentleman, when reading, 
used to lay aside his spectacles, take snuff, 
think on what he had read, and then, resuming 
his spectacles, go on again. One day the 
Magpie stole first the red-leather spectacle- 
. Then he watched, and when the old 
man laid down his spectacles, he carried those 
off in a twinkling. Presently they were 

, and for a time the gentleman could 
hardly believe that some one had not played a 
trick upon him. The spectacles and several 
Other missing articles were found in a hollow 
where two roofs met, — Mag's hiding place. 
Another made friends with a sheep, and used 
to hide his plunder in the wool on the sheep's 
k. 
The Magpie is about eighteen inches long. 
Hie head, neck and hack are black; throat, 

ihonlders, white ; wings, blue; tail, long 
and 



HO ABOUT CROWS. 

In England there are many superstitions 
concerning this bird. To see one, or two, or 
three together, is a sign of something, good 
or bad, while the ways in which the birds fly 
are of much consequence. Even so lately as 
in 1860, a request was made officially to the 
authorities at Dresden, in Germany, for a sup- 
ply of Magpies. They were to be perfect, even 
to claws and feathers, and must be shot be- 
tween the 24th of December and the 18th of 
January; they were to be made into a powder 
supposed to be a valuable remedy for the dis- 
ease called epilepsy. 

The signs are relics of the ancient art of 
divination, by which the people of Pagan Rome 
were humbugged. As for the medicine, being 
only dried and pounded meat, it is probably 
as effective as many other innocent prescrip- 
tions now much in fashion, whose only influ- 
ence is on the imagination of the patient. 
Doubtless many persons recover after taking 
the medicine, and sometimes in spite of it. 




GROUP OF HUMMING BIRDS. 



yAlBOUT WuMMING-BlRDS. 



Vertebrata. — Aves. 

Order — In^essores. — Perchers. 

Tribe— Tenuirostres. —Having thin bills. 

Family — TrochilidcB. — Greek, Trochilus, the name of a small bird. 




^J^r UMMING-BIRDS live in Ame- 
rica, and are found in some 
variety from Canada to Pata- 
gonia, though known in no 
other land in the world. 
Some of them wander over 
large distances, migrating like 
the larger birds; others are 
restricted to very narrow limits, only a few 
hundred yards wide, and on the slopes of a 
single mountain. They are most numerous in 



114 ABOUT HUMMING-BIRDS. 

Mexico and about the Equator. They are very 
small, always on the wing, swift as light, of 
very varied and curious forms, and splendid 
with gorgeous colors, which flash in the 
sunlight like the most brilliant and precious 
gems. When flying they move too swiftly for 
the eye to follow, and we see them suddenly 
appear, hover for an instant, and then as 
swiftly vanish. This rapid motion of their 
wings causes a low hum, like that made by 
some insects, and hence we call them Hum- 
ming-Birds; in other languages their names 
have the same meaning. The hum differs in 
tone with the different species, so that a prac- 
ticed ear can tell which kind is near, even 
before it is seen. The Black Cap, for instance, 
gives a tone like that of a wheel driven by 
machinery, while another gives the droning 
hum of a very large bee. 

The wings of the Humming-Birds are long 
and slender, like those of the swallows, and 
when folded, they usually extend beyond the 
tail. When hovering over a flower, the wings 



THEIR FOOD. 115 

move so rapidly as to seem only like two filmy 
fans fastened to the bird. The legs are weak. 
The tails are strong, like the wings, and 
have every variety of form. Some are pointed, 
others round or square, others are forked; 
some are very long; others have but six 
feathers; but in all cases the tail has consider- 
able motion, and, like a rudder, turns the 
course of the bird to the right or left, up or 
down. 

There has been much dispute about the food 
of these birds, some claiming that they lived 
upon insects, others that they sucked the honey 
of flowers, like the honey-bees. It is now 
understood that their food consists of both 
honey and insects. The naturalist, Webber, 
tamed several of these little birds. At first 
they were very fond of the syrup which 
he furnished them, but after a while they 
began to droop, and he let them fly. They 
1 returned, as fresh as ever, for the 
supply of sweet food which they knew they 
should find. This occurred again, and when 



n6 



ABOUT HUMMING-BIRDS. 



they were next set free, Mr. "Webber and his 
sister watched them very carefully. 

He says : " We were sadly puzzled to think 
what it was they were dipping at so eagerly in 
the shrubbery, to the utter neglect of the many 
flowers. We moved closer to watch them to 
better advantage, and in so doing changed 
our relative position to the sun. At once 
the thing was revealed to me. I caught Ruby 
in the very act of taking a small spider, with 
the point of his long beak, from the center of 
one of those circular webs of the garden 
spider, that so abound in the South. The 
thing was done so daintily that he did not 
stir the dewdrops, which, now glittering in the 
golden sun, crowded the gossamer tracery, 
all diamond strung. 

" Our presence did not disturb them in the 
least, and we watched them catching spiders 
for half an hour. They frequently came within 
ten feet of our faces, and we could distinctly 
see them take the little spider from the center 
of the wheel where it lies, and swallow it 






THEIR TONGUES. H7 

entire. After this, we let them out daily, and 
although we watched them closely, and with 
the most patient care, we could never see them 
touch the spiders again until the usual interval 
of about a fortnight had passed, when they 
attacked them as vigorously as ever; but the 
foray of one morning seemed to suffice. If 
we shut them up past the time, until they 
began to look drooping, and then brought one 
of those little spiders with other insects, they 
would snap up the spider soon enough, but 
paid no attention to the others." 

The bills of the IIumming-Birds are all thin 
and sharp, but vary considerably in curvature, 
and in some other respects. Each species has 
the form, straight or curved, turned up or 
down, which is best fitted to reach its food in 
the deep cups of the flowers which it visits. 
The tongue is long, thread-like, and double 
nearly to the root. At the throat it joins a 
eorioasly forked bone which passes on either 
Bide of the neck, and round the back of the 
head, ending in the forehead. This is so 



1 1 8 ABOUT HUMMING-BIRDS. 

arranged that the bird can thrust its tongue 
out a long distance, and pick up an insect or 
gather a drop of honey at the bottom of the 
long tube of a flower. The common wood- 
pecker has such a tongue, and can use it in the 
same way. 

More than three hundred species of these 
little birds are known, and others are continu- 
ally being discovered. 

The Humming-Bird most common at the 
North is the Ruby-throated, Trochilus colubris. 
Its plumage is golden-green above, golden-red 
about the throat, fine purple-brown on the 
wings and tail, and white beneath. The gen- 
eral tint of the throat is ruby, but it varies, as 
the light is reflected from it, from deep black, 
through every shade of red and green, to a 
glow of light, like the blaze of a furnace at 
white heat; and all these hues have the same 
radiant, metallic lustre. 

The Ruby-throat is a bold little fellow. He 
is so swift of wing that he cares not for hawk 
or owl, and will even drive away the eagle 



THEIR NESTS. 1 1 9 

himself, when the royal bird ventures too near 
his home. He has been seen to perch upon the 
head of the bald eagle, and peck away with 
right good will, tearing out the white feathers, 
while the great bird dashed screaming through 
the air, unable to get rid of its tiny torment 
As the bird is only three and a half inches 
long, his nest is very small. It is round, 
neatly made, with thick walls and a small hol- 
low. The bird usually fixes it upon the top of 
a bough, but sometimes fastens it to the side 
of the trunk; in either case it is made so 
much like a knob of the tree, that only a prac- 
ticed nest-hunter would perceive it. The 
female is very cautious when going to the 
nest. When she is near it she rises high in 
the air, out of sight, and then drops quickly 
down in the place, before one w T ho is watching 
would be done looking where she vanished. 
The nest is woven of the cotton-like wings of 
certain seeds, like the downy thistle. These 
are wrought into a strong soft wall, and arc 
covered with tne mosses which grow near by 



1 2 O ABOUT HUMMING-BIRDS. 

on the stems of the tree. In this tiny bed, 
lined with the wool from the mullen stalk, the 
bird lays two little pearly eggs. 

We have already mentioned Mr. Webber's 
Ruby-throats, which he let loose occasionally 
to hunt for spiders. He caught them by 
tempting them into a room with vases of fresh 
flowers, and then closing the window after 
them. Several injured themselves by dashing 
against the window pane. Finally one was 
caught in the hand, and when he came to look 
at it, the little fellow pretended to be dead. It 
lay on the open palm for some minutes with- 
out any motion ; then gently opened one of its 
bright eyes to see if the way was clear, and 
closed it again when it saw its captor watch- 
ing it. 

A mixture of two parts of loaf sugar, one 
of honey, and ten of water, was brought, and 
a drop was touched to the point of its bill. In 
an instant it came to life, and was on its feet, 
sipping the food from a spoon. When it had 
taken enough, it sat upon the finger, and 



FEIGXI1VG DEATH. 121 

plumed its wings as if quite at home. By the 
next day it would come from any part of the 
room, alight on the edge of the china cup 
which held its food, and drink eagerly, thrust- 
ing in its bill to the very base. A family of 
these birds, which Mr. Webber had tamed, 
migrated at the usual season, but the next year 
returned again and flew at once to the well- 
known window. When the cup of nectar was 
prepared for them, they came and supped, and 
brought their mates with them, so that quite a 
company of the beauties feasted with him. 

Wilson relates that one which he captured 
seemed to suffer from cold, and to be almost 
dead; he carried it into the sunshine, and it 
soon revived, flew to a twig for a moment, and 
then vanished in the sunshine. It is possible 
that this, like Webber's bird, was only "play- 
ing 'possum," and that others which have been 
said to die from fright, were not quite so far 
gone as they wished to seem. 

The Long-tailed Humming-Bird, of Jamaica, 
TrochihlS pohfimus i is a species which does not 



122 ABOUT HUMMING-BIRDS. 

migrate. The upper parts of this bird are 
green, glossed with gold, the wings purple 
brown, the tail black, with a steel-blue reflec- 
tion. The throat, breast and under parts are a 
glowing emerald green. The whole length of 
the male bird is about ten inches, of which the 
tail is three-fourths. The female w r ants the 
long tail feathers, and is only about four 
inches long. 

It is easy to catch these birds with a gauze 
net, but they usually die soon after. A few 
which were taken from the nest were tamed. 
Like the Ruby-throat, they fed upon nectar, 
with a meal of insects by way of a change. 
Each bird in a room had its own place for 
resting after flight, or at night, and would not 
allow another to occupy it; even if their owner 
wished to make them change places, they were 
uneasy, and each tried to regain possession of 
his own. 

The nest is made of fine moss, cotton fibre, 
and spider-web, and is covered with mosses; it 
is hung to a bough or twig, and in one case 



FLAME- BE A RERS. I 2 3 

was suspended over the sea-waves by the twigs 
of a wild vine. 

Some of the Humming-Birds have a tuft of 
white downy feathers, like a powder puff, 
about each leg. These are called Puff-legs. 
The Copper-bellied Puff-leg, Ereocnemis cuprei- 
ventris, is found in Santa Fe de Bogota. It 
dwells in a belt of land from six thousand to 
nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
probably because its food is found only in that 
locality. The general color of this bird is 
green, washed on the back with bronze, on the 
breast with gold, and underneath with copper, 
whence its name. The wings are brown and 
purple. The puffs are sno>vy white, like 
swan's down. 

One family wears a gorget of bright feathers 
about the throat, which gives them the name 
Flame-bearers, Selasphora. The Little Flame- 
bearer, S. scintilla, lives in the crater of an old 
volcano in Veragua, nine thousand feet above 
the sea. It is only two and a half inches long, 
and its flame is so bright that, as Mr. Gould 



124 ABOUT HUMMING-BIRDS. 

remarks, it seems to have caught the last spark 
of the volcano before it went out. 

ISTuttall describes a Flame-bearer, S. rufus, 
which he found on the Columbia River, in 
Oregon. u We saw the males in numbers, 
darting, buzzing and squeaking in the usual 
manner of their tribe; but when engaged in 
collecting its accustomed sweets in all the 
energy of life, it seemed like a breathing gem, 
a magic carbuncle of glowing fire, stretching 
out its glorious ruff as if to emulate the sun 
itself in splendor. Towards the close of May 
the females were sitting, while the males were 
uncommonly quarrelsome and vigilant, darting 
out at once as I approached the tree, like 
angry coals of brilliant fire, passing within 
very little of my face, returning several times 
to the attack, sailing and darting with the 
utmost velocity, at the same time uttering a 
curious sharp bleat, somewhat similar to the 
quivering twang of a dead twig, yet also so 
much like the real bleat of a small quadruped, 
that for some time I searched the ground, 



THE SAPPHO COMET. 1 25 

instead of the air, for the actor of the scene. 
The angry hissing or bleating note seems some- 
thing like whffft't'sh vee, tremulously uttered, 
and accompanied by something like the whirr 
of the night-hawk." 

A very beautiful variety is the Sappho 
Comet, or Bar-tailed Humming-Bird, Cometes 
sporqanurus. It is a native of Bolivia, and 
quite familiar, hunting the gardens and 
orchards, for the flowers of the apple and 
other fruit trees ; it visits the cactus flowers 
for an abundant supply of insect food. The 
nest is made of fibres and moss, and has a 
long tail or queue, but what for no one knows. 
It is lined with hair, and is hung against the 
6ide of a rock or wall, supported either by the 
wall, or by some twig or swinging root. The 
bird always selects some place which is shel- 
tered by an overhanging ledge. The body of 
this bird is light green, bronzed on the side 
of the neck; the lower part of the back is 
crimson red. The tail is formed like the letter 
V, each brauch consisting of four fiery red 



126 ABO UT HUMMING BIRDS. 

feathers, of graded lengths, each feather being 
tipped with black. This bird is about eight 
inches long. 

Far up upon the Andes, even near the line 
of perpetual snow, varieties of these little 
birds are found. The Chimborazian Hill-Star, 
Oreotrochilus Chimborazo, is never seen lower 
than twelve thousand feet above the sea, and 
specimens have been taken at the height of 
sixteen thousand feet, or about four miles. It 
is usually found near an alpine plant, which 
grows at that height, and bears large yellow 
flowers. Its coloring is less bright than some 
of the family, except the head and throat, and 
these are of the most brilliant hues, the head 
blue, and throat emerald green. Another Hill- 
Star, which dwells on Mount Pichinca, is like 
the last, except the green spot on the throat. 
Although these volcanoes are only thirty miles 
apart, these birds, which live at about the same 
height on each, are never found to have passed 
from one to the other. 

One of the minutest of this family, and of 



THE VER J r A IX HI 'MMIXG-BIRD. I 2 7 

all the feathered tribes, is the Vervain Hum- 
ming-Bird, Mellisvga minima. It lives in 

Jamaica. Mr. Gosse says: "The West 
Indian Vervain is one of the most commou 
weeds of neglected pastures, shooting every- 
where, its slender columns set around with 
blue flowers to the height of a foot. Our 
little Humming-Bird visits these spikes in suc- 
tion, flitting from one to another exactly 
in the same manner as the honey -bee, and 
with the same business-like application and 
industry. 

" I have watched with much delight the 
evolutions of this little species at the moringa 
tree. When only one is present, he pursues 
the round of the blossoms soberly enough. 
But if two are at the tree, one will fly off and 
pend himself in the air a few yards distant; 
the other presently starts off to him, and then, 
without touching each other, they mount 
upward with strong rushing wings, perhaps 
for five hundred feet They then separate, and 
eaei - diagonally towards the ground like 



128 ABOUT HUMMING-BIRDS. 

a ball from a rifle, and wheeling round comes 
up to the blossoms again, and sucks as if it 
had not moved away at all. Frequently one 
alone will mount in this manner, or dart on 
invisible wing diagonally upwards, looking 
exactly like a bumble-bee. Indeed, the 
figure of the smaller Humming-Birds on the 
wing, their rapidity, their wavering course, and 
their whole manner of flight, are entirely those 
of an insect, and any one who has watched the 
flight of a large beetle or bee will have a very 
good idea of these tropic gems painted against 
the sky." 

The nest is small, at first, and rather shal- 
low. When the young birds are hatched, the 
mother sets to work again and raises the sides 
of the nest to keep the chicks from falling 
out. When they are ready to fly the nest has 
been built into a deep round cup. All the 
Humming-Birds, with some other small 
species, make the rim of the nest curve 
inwards, so that, however hard the wind 



THEY DO NOT SING. 1 29 

may shake the bough, the eggs may not be 
thrown out. 

In all this account of the Humming-Birds no 
mention has been made of their song. Except 
the single soft note of the Vervain Hura- 
ming-Bird, and the complaining chirp of the 
Ruby-throat, they do not sing. Nature seems to 
have been sufficiently lavish in dressing them 
in so beautiful plumage. Usually the birds 
which are most beautiful are least valued for 
their song, while those which sing most sweetly 
wear the plainest garb. The thrushes, the 
lark, the mocking-bird, the nightingale, dis- 
play only quiet, sober colors. The Humming- 
Birds are mute; the birds of paradise utter 
only hoarse croaks ; the peacock is as notori- 
ous for his disagreeable scream as he is cele- 
brated for his gorgeous train. Thus nature 
distributes her gifts. One has strength ; 
another speed ; another beaut} 7 ; another mel- 
ody ; and all are given, not earned, or 
rved. Then let not the swallow seek the 
ngth of the eagle; or the eagle claim the 



13° ABOUT HUMMING-BIRDS. 

song of the nightingale ; or the nightingale 
mourn for the golden glories of the Humming- 
Birds. So ought men, to whom good gifts 
have been in like manner variously distributed, 
to be content with that which they have sever- 
ally received. 

It has been suggested that all these are but 
the outward signs of love. " It may be, there- 
fore, that on the one side the bird which has 
a good voice and plain dress, pours forth his 
love, and shows his sympathy, in gushing 
strains, w T hieh are addressed to the ear of his 
mate; again, the bright plumaged bird utters 
his voiceless song by the vivid hues that flash 
from his glittering attire, the eye being the 
only medium through w-hich his partner, whose 
ears are not attuned to melody, could realize 
the fullness of his utterance. The one showers 
his musical tones like vocal rainbows, and the 
other scatters his rays of many-colored light 
in flashing hues or blending tints, and whether 
in sweet song or glittering vesture, the creature 
utters the love and sympathy of its nature." 



fi 



bout Owls. 



VlRTIBRATA — AVKS. 

Order — Accipitres. — Hawks. 

TAyiiLY — StHffida. — Latin, Stria, a Screech Owl. 




ERHAPS no family of birds 
have been misrepresented more 
commonly, or more unreason- 
ably, than the Owls. In all 
countries, and in every lan- 
guage, the very name is a word 
of ridicule or of reproach, 
q) while the cry is supposed to 

foretell some fearful event. Goldsmith accuses 
him of treachery because he seeks his food 
by night — the bird is so made that he can 
not Bee by day — and because he steals upon 



134 ABOUT OWLS. 

his prey, very much like the lion, who is called 
a noble animal, and the king of beasts. 

The naturalists have given these birds names 
which suggest something noisy or disagreeable. 
The unlearned say of a stupid fellow, " he 
looks as wise as an owl !" But the Owl is not 
as fierce as the eagle, as cruel or unclean as the 
vulture, as noisy as the peacock, or as stupid 
as the ostrich; in fact he has just about as 
much cunning and prudence as the other birds 
of prey. He does the work that he was fitted 
to do. He flies by night, because he was made 
to feed on prey that is active at night. He 
sings just as sweetly as nature intended he 
should sing, and if he makes his nest in ruin- 
ous towers, it is because they afford him and 
his young a secure and quiet home. 

The Owl has, usually, a large head, with a 
strong hooked beak ; great, staring eyes, which 
5ook straight forward; a circle of feathers 
tfhich surround each eye and partially cover 
,he beak and the ear, and which make the 
arge eye seem still larger; strong curved 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 135 

claws, and soft, downy plumage, generally 
spotted with various shades of brown or yel- 
low. His legs and feet are often feathered to 
the toes, and his claws admit of much motion, 
so that he can hold very small prey. His eyes 
are fitted for seeing in the dark, or at twilight. 
Some species see very well even in the day 
time, and others are quite dazzled by daylight. 
His flight is easy, buoyant, and noiseless, on 
account of the softness of his feathers. In a 
word, an Owl is very like a feathered cat, 
just as a cat is like a furred Owl. He feeds 
on birds, rats, mice, and small game of all 
kinds, swallowing his prey entire, and casting 
up the indigestible parts in small pellets. His 
nest is rudely constructed in the hollow of an 
old tree, in a fissure or cave in a rock, or 
among the crevices of some ruined wall. So 
on her 

" ivy-mantled tower 
The moping Owl does to the moon complain 
Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, 
Molest her ancient, solitary reign." 



13^ ABOUT OWLS. 

The Owl family may be divided into three 
branches. First, there are the Owls proper, 
having large external ears and the circles of 
feathers about the eyes entire, and which are 
nocturnal in their habits; next, the horned 
Owls, whose external ear is small, and which 
wear a tuft of feathers, like a horn, on each 
side of the head; and last, the hawk Owls, 
which have small eye-circles, and neither outer 
ear, nor feathery tufts. 

The chief of the last family is the Great 
Snowy Owl, Nyctea nivea. This Owl, from its 
beauty, bravery, and endurance, has been 
called the King of the Owls. It dwells in 
the northern parts of both continents, where 
it finds its food and rears its young, among 
the wastes of rock and ice, in spite of the 
violence of arctic storms. In those regions 
where so much labor and life have been wasted 
in fruitless search for an impassable passage 
from European to Asiatic seas, this bird has 
been found at the most northern point, better 



THE SKO WT O WL. 137 

prepared by nature to endure the extreme cold, 
than men, with all the resources of art. 

The whole plumage of this bird is pure 
white, without any marks whatever; the young 
birds, however, are marked with dark spots at 
the tip of each feather. The beak and claws 
arc black. The eyes are bright as gold ; by 
daylight they are very brilliant, and at night 
they glow like twin balls of fire. A story is 
told of a Snowy Owl, which alighted on the 
rigging of a ship to rest itself, after a long 
flight. A sailor who was 3ent aloft on some 
duty, speedily came down again, in a great 
fright, sure that he had seen "Davy Jones'' 
sitting on the main yard, and glaring at him 
with his great eyes. 

These eyes are fixed in the Owl's face so 
that he can not turn them, but his neck is so 
fitted that he can turn his head quite round 
without moving his body. 

The food of this Owl varies with the season. 
In the short summer it takes many of the small 
birds. In autumn it flies low, and feeds upon 



I38 ABOUT OWLS. 

the grouse or ptarmigan, and when these are 
gone, it goes to the water and catches fish, 
waiting on the rock as patiently as a human 
angler. When the country is covered with 
snow, many of the smaller animals are driven 
upon the surface to seek the bark of bushes 
and trees, and on these the Owls manage to 
keep alive, until the melting snows disclose 
the bodies of creatures which perished under 
the sweeping storms of the preceding winter. 
Thus they live during all the year, and do not 
leave their snowy realms until driven to the 
last extremity. 

In the great plains which border the Mis- 
souri and its branches, a small animal called 
the Prairie Dog is found in great numbers. 
These marmots — for such they are — some- 
thing midway between a squirrel and a wood- 
chuck — live in troops, and dig their burrows 
with considerable regularity, like towns, leav- 
ing streets between their burrows. The towns 
seem to be governed by some old fellow, whom 
the hunters call Big-Dog, who sits before the 



IN PRAIRIE-DOG TOWNS. 139 

entrance to his burrow, and issues his orders 
as mayor. 

While no danger is feared, the towns-people 
are full of life, sitting on the mounds of earth 
which are left before each burrow, or running 
about to visit their neighbors. Suddenly a 
sharp yelp is given ; at once quick barks reply 
on every side; the air is filled with a cloud of 
dust; nothing can be seen but a confused mass 
of whisking legs and tails, and the busy town is 
desolate. In a few moments a pair of eyes 
are peering out at one hole, a whisker peeps 
out at another, and presently all come forth 
again, as lively as before. But these animals 
are not suffered to occupy their towns in quiet. 
The vicious and the idle gather among them, 
and do them no small harm. Lizards creep 
into their houses; the deadly rattlesnake comes 
after their little ones, and a kind of burrowing 
Owl finds it more convenient to take posses- 
sion of a marmot's burrow than to dig one for 
itself. This Owl, Athene cunicularia, has been 
accused of going after the young marmots, but 



14° ABOUT OWLS. 

there is no evidence that it eats any thing but 
insects, and the " mice and such small deer " 
as come in its way. Its color is a rich brown 
upon the upper parts, spotted with grayish 
white, and whitish beneath. It is about eleven 
inches long. Its cry is much like the sharp, 
quick bark of the Prairie Dog. 

The Great Horned or Eagle Owl, Bubo max- 
imuSy is the largest of the family, and seems to 
be nearly as large as the Golden Eagle. It is 
really much smaller, and owes its apparent size 
to its feathers, not to its body. Its weight is 
about one fourth that of the Eagle, but in 
power of muscle it is hardly inferior. It is 
found in Europe. Its place is occupied in 
America by the Virginian Eared Owl, Bubo 
Virginianus. This bird is a terrible destroyer 
of game, picking up grouse, partridges, hares, 
ducks, squirrels, and even attacking the wild 
turkey. The Owl tries to find a place where 
the turkey is asleep, and then swoops down 
upon its victim before it awakes. Sometimes 
the turkey is roused by the rush of wings, and 



THE VIRGINIAN EARED OWL. I4I 

then it instinctively spreads its broad tail over 
its back and ducks its head. The Owl finds 
nothing but stiff, smooth feathers to grasp, its 
talons glide off from the protecting quills, and 
60 the turkey escapes. 

The color of this bird is reddish brown, 
marked with spots of black, brown, and gray, 
and covered with innumerable specks. Its 
large eyes are golden orange; beak and claws 
large and black; legs short and strong, and 
thickly clothed to the very claws with fine, 
downy plumage. The broad tufts, which re- 
semble horns, are about three inches high, 
formed of twelve or fourteen black feathers 
edged with brownish yellow. Its flight is very 
powerful, easy, and graceful. Its voice is hol- 
low; when heard by night it causes even a 
manly heart to quake. 

"Along the mountainous shores of the Ohio, 
and amidst the deep forests of Indiana," says 
Wilson, " this ghostly watchman has frequently 
warned me of the approach of morning, and 
amused me with his singular exclamations, 



I4 2 ABOUT OWLS. 

sometimes sweeping down and around my fire, 
uttering a loud and sudden Waugh ! Waugh 
0! sufficient to have alarmed a whole garri- 
son. He has other nocturnal sounds, not less 
melodious, one of which resembles the half 
suppressed screams of a person suffocating, or 
throttled, and can not fail of being very enter- 
taining to a lonely, benighted traveler, in the 
midst of an Indian wilderness." 

The Mottled Owl, Scops asio, a small and 
handsome species, sometimes called the Little 
Screech Owl, is common throughout the United 
States. It is oftenest seen in autumn and win- 
ter, when forced to approach barns or houses 
in search of mice. During the day it hides in 
hollow trees or thick evergreens, and it is sub- 
ject to great derision and insult, even amount 
ing to blows, if found by any of the smaller 
birds. It is about ten inches long, dark brown 
above, shaded with paler brown, and spotted 
with zigzag points of black and ash; the face 
is whitish, and the breast is marked with lines 
of black and brown on a whitish ground. 



THE TAWNT OWL. 1 43 

The Tawny Owl, Simiium aluco, is the one 
which, in England, makes night dismal with 
its loud lamenting cry. It is a sage looking 
bird, and among the rustics has a variety of 
names, screech-owl, madge-howlet, and Peter, 
being the most common. Its head and legs 
are very large, and it stands quite erect, so 
that it looks like a little fat old man, with 
plenty of wig, great round spectacles over a 
hooked nose, and an air as grave and rever- 
end as a judge. Its soft feathers make it 
seem much larger than it really is, and as they 
are poorly fitted to keep out the wet, a rainy 
day reduces its size about one half. The rain, 
however, does not trouble it much, for, if it 
soon gets wet, it soon gets dry again. 

A gentleman allowed a pair to build a nest 
in the attic of an unoccupied house. He says: 
" I should have been a little afraid of molest- 
ing them, so fierce did the old gentleman look 
when his wife and children were approached. 
One morning the cat was missing, and I found 
that some strange sounds had been heard the 



144 ABOUT OWLS. 

evening before in the room where the Owls 
were. On going up that evening, I found poor 
puss quite dead, one of her eyes actually 
pecked out, and her antagonist, also dead, 
lying on the side of the nest. The mamma 
Owl was away, probably in search of food, but 
she may have been present and assisted at the 
death. I have seen a cat, at another time, 
cowed by an old Owl that came down the 
chimney into the dining room." 

The length of this bird is about fifteen 
inches. Its beak is white ; eyes blue ; the 
circles round the eyes white, streaked with 
brown; plumage tawny brown, darkest on the 
head and back, lightest on the breast, and 
spotted or barred with light or dark brown. 
Its screeching and its hooting are alike dismal. 
It sharply cries too-whit, or utters an inward 
tremulous too-whoo, with a gloomy and sub- 
dued shivering, any thing but merry. 

The Barn or White Owl, Strix flammed, is a 
delicately colored and soft plumed bird, always 
found near dwellings and farmyards, where it 



THE BARN O WL. 1 45 

loves to live, not for the sake of eating young 
chickens, but for the mice which make such 
havoc in the grain stacks and corn cribs. 
The number of mice which it destroys is 
almost incredible. Mr. Waterton estimates 
that when a pair of these Owls are rearing a 
brood, they bring to the nest four or five mice 
every hour. This gentleman established a col- 
ony of Barn Owls in the ivy which adorned 
the ancient gateway of his mansion. They 
multiplied rapidly, and repaid his protection 
by ridding the out-buildings of the great num- 
bers of rats and mice with which they were 
infested. They were not sparing, it is true, of 
their music, which though rather discordant, 
was doubtless the best they could afford. Six- 
teen months after the apartment over the old 
gateway had been cleaned, more than a bushel 
of the pellets or castings of these Owls was 
gathered, each pellet containing the skeletons 
of four to seven mice. The amount of service 
done by a pair of Owls must therefore be 
greater than that of a large number of cats, 



I46 ABOUT OWLS. 

while their music could hardly be less agree- 
able. 

The Owl has two ways of eating. If he 
has caught a mouse and is going to eat it, 
the mouse is first bitten smartly across the 
back so as to destroy all life, and when it 
hangs motionless from the bird's beak, it is 
tossed into the air very adroitly, so as to fall 
with its head downwards. The Owl then 
catches the head in his mouth, and holds it 
for a few seconds ; then a sharp toss sends it 
down his throat, leaving the tail hanging out, 
usually at the left side of the bird's beak. 
The bird rolls this about for a bit, as a boy 
would a stick of candy, or a man a cigar, and 
then another jerk puts all out of sight. But 
when the Owl has to deal with a bird, like 
others of the hawk tribe, he strips off the fea- 
thers, and tears it to pieces. 

This bird is easily tamed whec young, and 
makes a very amusing pet. One each formed 
a friendship with a tame skylark, which he 
allowed to sit on his back, and to bury itself 



TAMED OWLS. 1 47 

in his soft plumage. This bird was an active 
enemy of bats, and killed small birds, as well 
as mice. It used to push its prey into a hole 
in the wall, made by the fall of a brick. In 
this odd larder was found a strange variety of 
game. Six or eight small birds would be 
counted early in the evening, and once as 
many as fourteen bats had been poked into 
the hole. Several times the bird had stowed 
away a moderate sized eel, which it had killed 
by a bite across the back. 

Another tame Owl was approached by a 
dog, which came up to inspect the stranger. 
The Owl quietly rolled over on its back, and 
when the dog put his nose to the bird, it 
6truck with its feet so sharply that it put out 
both the eyes of the poor dog, which had to 
be killed on account of the injury. 

Many other species of Owls are named, but 
they agree in general appearance and habits 
with those we have described. They are all 
6ober, sedate birds, hard-working and provi- 
dent for their families, but solitary and seclu- 



I48 ABOUT OWLS. 

ded in their habits, minding their own busi- 
ness. But there is something in these very 
solitary habits, and something so discordant in 
their tones, when heard in the gloomy silence 
of night, that have impressed men with fear 
and dislike of the whole tribe. There is no 
good reason for this superstitious awe. There 
is nothing in the Owl supernatural or myste- 
rious, or more than belongs to any bird of 
prey which hunts by night and rests by day. 
Its harsh voice, caused by its wide throat, 
serves, as was doubtless meant by its Creator, 
to alarm its prey, and make the frightened 
animals stir; thus the slight movement and 
consequent rustle shows the bird its game. 

Although we must think that the reputation 
of the Owls is worse than their character, after 
all their character is none of the best. There 
is nothing pleasant in their appearance, nothing 
agreeable in their manners, nothing genial in 
their disposition or habits. They live only for 
themselves. Their good qualities are mostly 
negative, and the best we can say is, that they 



THE OWL- KING. 1 49 

niisrht be worse. There are men and women 
of whom we have to say the same. 

44 In the hollow tree, in the old grey tower, 
The spectral Owl doth dwell; 
Dull, hated, despised, in the sunshine hour, 

But at dusk he's abroad, and well! 
Not a bird of the forest e'er mates with him, 

All mock him outright by day; 
But at night, when the woods grow still and dim, 
The boldest will shrink away. 

Oh ! when the night falls, and roosts the fowl, 
Then, then is the reign of the Horned Owl. 

41 And the Owl hath a bride who is fond and bold, 
And lovcth the wood's deep gloom ; 
And with eyes like the shine of the moon-stone cold, 

She awaiteth her ghastly groom : 
Not a feather she moves, not a carol she sing6, 

As she waits in her tree so still, 
But when her heart heareth his flapping wings, 
She hoots out her welcome shrill ! 

Oh! when the moon shines, and dogs do howl, 
Then, then is the reign of the Horned Owl. 

Mourn not for the Owl, nor his gloomy plight! 

The Owl hath his share of good; 
If a prisoner he be in the broad daylight, 

He is lord in the dark greenwood I 






15° ABOUT OWLS. 

Nor lonely the bird, nor his ghastly mate ; 

They are each unto each a pride ; 
Thrice fonder, perhaps, since a strange dark fate 
Hath rent them from all beside ! 

So when the night falls, and dogs do howl, 
Sing Ho ! for the reign of the Horned Owl ! 
We know not alway 
Who are kings of day, 
But the king of the night is the bold brown Owl. 

Barry Cornwall. 




THE BELTED KINGFISHER. Ceryle alcyon. 



About Kingfishers. 



Vkrtebrata — Aves. 

Order — Insessares — Perchers. 

Tribe — Fissirostres — Having bills which open wide. 

Family — AlcedinidoB — Latin, Alcedo, a kingfisher. 



e&h? 




whist 
their 

ter" 



SUALLY there is, in midsum- 
mer, a time when nature seems 
asleep. The warm rays of sun- 
shine do not crowd every leaf 
and twig with springing, bud- 
ding life. The birds fly lazily 
through the still air, under a 
cloudless sky. The winds are 
. The waves of lake and ocean forget 
tumult Even the "multitudinous laugh- 
of the sea subsides into a placid smile, 



154 ABOUT KINGFISHERS. 

and only the faintest splash is heard as the 
swells break idly on the beach. 

The ancients called these Halcyon days, and 
we use the word as signifying days of peace- 
ful rest, forgetting that Halcyon days means 
Kingfisher's days. The fable was that Alcy- 
one, the Kingfisher, had some charm by which 
the winds and waves were stilled to rest, and 
kept at peace fourteen days, while the bird 
made its nest upon the water, and hatched its 
young. This charm was aided by the sweet 
song of the bird. The fact was, that those 
who invented this story, with all the fables that 
go with it, did not know where to look for 
the Kingfisher's nest, and as she lives about the 
water, they guessed that she, somehow, reared 
her young there. She does not make her nest 
on the water, or on land, or on a tree, but in a 
hole in the ground. The place chosen is at 
the foot of a bank, near the water, and is 
usually the burrow of some four-footed ani- 
mal. The bird hollows out the inner end 
until large enough for her purpose, and takes 



THEIR NESTS. 155 

care to choose a burrow which slopes upward, 
so that the nest may be out of danger from 
water. The nest itself is made of fish bones, 
which the Kingfishers cast up from the fish 
eaten, just as the owls eject the indigestible 
parts of their food. The walls are about half 
an inch thick, and the shape is quite flat. The 
way in which the bones are arranged shows 
that the bird really forms them into a nest, 
and does not merely lay her eggs at random 
upon them. The partial decay of these bones 
is probably the reason why a Kingfisher's nest, 
and the bird itself, have such a vile and unen- 
durable stench. 

Mr. Gould thus describes his experience in 
procuring a nest : 

" During one of my fishing excursions on 
the Thames, I saw a hole in a steep bank, 
which I felt assured was a nesting-place of the 
Kingfisher, and on passing a spare top of nay 
fly-rod to the extremity of the hole, a distance 
of nearly three feet, I brought out some fresh- 
ly-cast bones of fish, convincing me that I was 



1 5 6 ABOUT KINGFISHERS. 

right in my surmise. I again visited the spot 
with a spade, and after removing nearly two 
feet square of turf, dug down to the nest with- 
out disturbing the entrance hole, or the pas- 
sage which led to it Here I found four eggs, 
placed on the usual layer of fish bones ; all of 
these I removed with care, and then filled up 
the hole, beating the earth down as hard as 
the bank itself, and replacing the sod on top, 
in order that the barge-horses, passing to and 
fro, might not put a foot in the hole. A fort- 
night afterwards the bird was seen to leave 
the hole again, and my suspicion was awak- 
ened that she had taken to her old breeding 
quarters a second time. 

" Twenty-one days after, I again passed the 
top of my fly-rod up the hole, and found not 
only that the hole was of the former length, 
but that the female was within. I then stuffed 
a large mass of cotton to the extremity of the 
hole, in order to preserve the eggs and nest 
from damage during my again laying it open 
from above. On removing the sod and dig- 



THE BELTED KINGFISHER, 157 

ging down as before, I came upon the cotton 
wool, and beneath it a well-formed nest of 
fish bones, the size of a small saucer, the walls 
of which were fully half an inch thick, to- 
gether with eight beautiful eggs, and the old 
female herself. The mass of bones, weighing 
TOO grains — about an ounce and a half — had 
teen cast up and deposited by the bird, or 
the bird and its mate, besides the unusual 
number of eight eggs, in the short space of 
twenty-one days." 

The Common or Belted Kingfisher, Ceryle 
alcyone, is familiar all over Xorth America. 
He is about thirteen inches long. His back, 
and a belt across his breast, are blue; the 
under parts, and a spot before each eye, white; 
the tail black, barred with white. The head 
wears a long crest. His sudden scream is 
shrill and harsh, quite like the sound of a 
watchman's rattle; one would think not well 
adapted to lull waves, or any thing else, to 
rest. The Kingfisher sits quietly for hours 
on the branch of some tree which overhangs 



1 5 & ABOUT KINGFISHERS. 

the water, and then, with a loud scream, de- 
scends, and quickly rises again, bearing a fish 
in his beak. This he takes back to his perch, 
batters smartly against the branch, and swal- 
lows. Then he watches for another, and so 
keeps at work till he has eaten enough. His 
sight is very keen, and he finds hi3 prey even 
in the turbid rapids of a waterfall. He knows, 
too, how to take a position which will make the 
best of the sunshine. 

One sunny afternoon the writer was observing 
a Kingfisher, which sat upon a naked limb of an 
oak, overlooking the water. For a long time the 
bird saw nothing, and did not move. Presently 
he left his perch, and flew along the margin of 
the lake, rather in the direction of the sun. 
After going a few rods, he stopped, turned his 
back to the sun, and for a few seconds stood 
balanced on his beating wings, and looked 
intently into the water. Then he turned, went 
on a few rods further, again turned his back 
to the sun, repeated his careful gaze, and 
again went on. At the third or fourth pause, 



THE SPOTTED KINGFISHER. 159 

be spied a fish, and dropped upon it like an 
arrow. At each pause he placed himself in 
the air, over the water, so that the reflections 
from the surface would be turned away from 
him. 

His flight consists of five or six flaps, fol- 
lowed by a glide. When he pauses, he seems 
to stand upon his feet and beat the air with 
his wings, as a swimmer "treads" water. 

The bird occupies the same nest year after 
year. Audubon tried to catch one in its bur- 
row. He first set a net over the opening, 
but the bird crept out between the meshes 
and the earth. Next he found the bird in its 
hole, and he thrust a stick into the opening, 
thinking that he could blockade it until morn- 
ing; but the Kingfisher scratched his way 
round the stick, and so raised the blockade. 

A bird quite like the Belted Kingfisher, is 
the Spotted Kingfisher of Asia, Cergle guttata. 
The natives call it Muchee-bag, or Fish-tiger. 
It is about fifteen inches long, with a beak 
three inches long. Its plumage is jet black, 



1 60 ABOUT KINGFISHERS. 

spotted thickly with white, and its head wears 
a large crest of the same colors. 

The Great African Kingfisher, Ceryle max- 
ima, is about as long as the one last men- 
tioned, but his body is rather larger. The 
back is dark ashen-gray, nearly brown, and 
marked with numerous small white spots. The 
lower surface is grayish-white. 

The English Kingfisher, Alcedo hispida, is 
about seven inches long. Its coloring is quite 
brilliant, and complex. The top of the head, 
back of neck, and back, are dark green, flecked 
with bright spots of blue. The lower part of 
the back is light violet, or blue, and the tail 
indigo. The under parts are chestnut. Al- 
though thus brilliantly colored, it loses its gay 
appearance when seen against fresh white snow. 
This bird catches his prey quite like the Belt- 
ed Kingfisher. If he can take more than he 
wishes to eat, he stores the remainder away, 
until he gets hungry. One chose a crevice 
made by the roots of a willow tree, and would 
sometimes have four or five fish in his larder 



HO W THE T FISH. 1 6 1 

at once, some of them large enough to cook, 
lie will sometimes pounce upon a fish too 
large to be swallowed, and has been choked 
to death by his greediness. Oue is said to 
have caught and tried to swallow a young 
dab-chick, which is a small bird of the duck 
family. 

The most fatal case is related by Mr. 
^Vood. A gentleman watching the birds, fish 
and insects which were playing about a stream 
of water, saw a strange blue object floating 
down the current, and splashing with great 
energy. On looking closer he found that a 
Kingfisher had caught and partially swallowed 
a fish too large for him to manage; while the 
contest was going on, a broad-nosed pike came 
up, and swallowed both fish and bird. The 
same person asserts that the Kingfisher is fond 
of slow, solemn music, and will linger to listen 
to it, but is driven away if more lively tunes 
are played. 

If not disturbed this bird becomes quite 
familiar. A fisherman threw away a fish 



1 62 ABOUT KINGFISHERS. 

which was too small for his purpose. A 
Kingfisher upon a tree near by picked up the 
rejected fish. Another was too small, and 
thrown by, which the bird also ate. Upon 
this quite an intimacy sprang up between the 
two anglers; the man made a peculiar whistle 
when he threw a fish, and the bird soon 
learned to come at the call. This friendship 
lasted for several years. Others have been 
reared from the nest, but they require a large 
amount of food, and soon learn that is much 
easier to be fed than to get their own living. 

In some parts of England the country people 
take this bird, remove the entrails, stuff the 
interior with spices, and then dry him in the 
sun. The bird is then hung by the point of 
the beak to a beam in the ceiling, so that it 
will turn freely, and they say that it always 
turns its breast towards the point from which 
the wind blows. 

The islands of the Eastern Archipelago fur- 
nish several notable varieties of this family. 
Indeed, the largest species lives in Australia, 



THE LA UGHING J A CKA SS. 1 6$ 

and is called the Giant Kingfisher, or Laugh- 
ing Jackass, Dacdo gigas. The settlers give it 
this name from its loud, discordant cry, which 
is a strange, grating laugh, more startling than 
that of the hyena, and by no means agreeable 
to one who is not familiar with it, in the lonely 
wilderness. The Laughing Jackass has quite 
an inquisitive nature, and if a fire is made, it 
often glides silently into the thicket near by, 
and utters its yell from one of the branches. 
The stranger is alarmed, but the old hand un- 
concernedly shoots the intruder and cooks him 
for his supper. 

At sunrise and sunset this bird becomes very 
noisy, as well as at dawn and at nightfall. So 
the white men sometimes call him the " Settler's 
Clock," while the natives call him Gogobera. 

His food is not altogether fish, but he gob- 
bles insects, snakes, and even .small quadrupeds. 
He is said to be a handsome bird, the upper 
plumage being various shades of brown, and 
the under parts white, barred with brown. 
His length is about eighteen inches. 



1 64 ABOUT KINGFISHERS. 

Another Australian Kingfisher, Halcyon sanc- 
ta, is nearly as large as the Laughing Jackass. 
It feeds on insects, which it seizes in its bill, 
and thumps on the ground smartly; it also 
eats the crabs and prawns which are thrown 
on shore by the tide. Sometimes it tears ant- 
hills in pieces, and devours the inhabitants, 
with their young. Many other species are 
described, but they are not greatly different 
in form and habits from those we have men- 
mentioned. 



Of Cei\tain Sweet Singei\s. 




>E purpose to group together in 
this article several birds whose 
only claim of kinship lies in 
their song. We have already 
observed the general rule, that 
those birds which wear the 
gayest plumage do not usu- 
ally excel in singing, while 
those which make the woods and meadows 
ring with their delicious music, are clad in 
gray, quiet robes. For all that, we like the 
homely singers best. There is something in- 
spiriting in the rich, rollicking trill of a bird. 
It makes us feel that spring has come; that 
nature has awaked from sleep; that all the 



1 68 CERTAIN SWEET SINGERS. 

air, the earth, the plain, the forest, the garden, 
the field, are full of earnest, gushing, over- 
flowing life. As the little warbler rises in his 
melody, how his whole being is poured into 
his song! His very attitude — every feather 
and fibre alive, his wings spread and quiver- 
ing, his eye on fire, and his full, bursting 
throat — tells in what downright earnest he is. 
And then the liquid notes, clear and sharp, or 
soft and mellow, how they harmonize, each 
with each, and, with the myriad other tones, 
the voiced stops of nature's grand organ, the 
deep diapason of the cataract and the storm, 
the clanging trumpet of the thunder, the viol 
of the babbling brook, the dulciana of the 
sounding pine, and even the tingling voices of 
the silent stars, combine to swell the choral 
strain which all God's works continually do 
chant. 

Men often try to imitate the songs of birds, or 
to represent their strains by words, and the at- 
tempt always fails. The letters in our words 
represent sounds which we utter with our 



A S/XG/iVG AUTOMATON. 1 69 

mouths and throats, and which are different from 
those that birds make, because our vocal or- 
gans differ from theirs. Our letters will not ex- 
press their tones, and if we should invent new 
letters for them we could not speak the words 
which those letters would form. Something 
may be done by musical notation, but the signs 
will only indicate the pitch, without showing 
the quality of tone, or giving the articulation, 
two of the most important items in bird-music. 
A person may as easily have an idea of a per- 
fume which he has not smelled, or of a color 
which he has not seeu, as of a bird's song 
which he has not heard. 

Some years since, a young and wealthy 
Cuban, then my pupil, brought to my room a 
beautiful music-box, which he had just received 
from Paris. It was small, easily carried in the 
packet, elegantly carved with flowers and fruit, 
and was ornamented upon the top with a gold 
engraved plate, about the size of a half dollar. 
My friend wound up the mechanism and 
touched the spring. A few notes of prelude, 



17° CERTAIN SWEET SINGERS. 

and then a pause. The goljl plate lifted itself, 
and a jeweled branch rose up, bearing a little 
bird. His shape, his attitude, were perfect; 
every feather was in its place. He seemed to 
sing, and as the tune flowed on, his tiny ivory 
bill opened and shut, and quivered in the trills, 
his head moved from side to side, his wings rose 
and fell, and even his feet appeared to clasp the 
branch closer as his body waved. In a few 
moments the song ended. With the last exult- 
ing note, the bird closed his wings, bowed his 
head, and bird and branch vanished under the 
closing lid. In all respects it was a piece of 
most exquisite workmanship, but it lacked the 
inimitable grace of the living bird, and its 
music was but the lifeless tinkle of the music- 
box. We peeped under the edge of the lid, 
and there the bird lay upon its side, curiously 
folded away, indeed, a dead automaton. It 
was a wondrous specimen of delicate mechan- 
ism, but for its value as a bird, one living, 
breathing, warbling thrush were worth a thou- 
sand such. 



THE CANARY. 171 

Jhe Panary. 
Tribe — Conirostres — Having cone-shaped bills. 

The first bird which we shall mention is the 
Canary, Cardudis canaria. About three hun- 
dred years ago a ship which w T as bringing a 
large number of these birds from the Canary 
Isles, was wrecked on the coast of Elba, in the 
Mediterranean. The birds escaped, and set- 
tled themselves on shore. Some were caught 
by the people, and for their sprightliness 
and their fine singing, were much admired. 
They were soon carried to Italy, and from 
there all over Europe. The native color of 
the Canary is not the bright yellow which we 
commonly see, but a kind of dappled olive- 
green, black, and yellow, either color being at 
times the most predominant. The Germans 
and the Tyrol ese take great pains in breeding 
Canaries, while societies for that purpose have 
existed in London for more than a hundred 
years. Amateurs distinguish more than thirty 
varieties, which are divided into two classes, 



1 7 2 CER TAIN S WEE T SINGERS. 

the Plain and the Variegated; the first are 
called Gay Spangles, and the latter Mealy 
Birds. The green, or mealy birds, are thought 
the strongest, and to have the best song. 
Those which are pure yellow are called Jon- 
quils. The tendency seems to be toward a 
return to the darker kinds, so that a green 
bird is often found in the nest even when 
two pure gay birds are mated. 

The birds are worthy of care and study for 
their sprightly temper, but they are chiefly val- 
ued for their loud and varied song, which is 
continued through most of the year. Some 
will even sing in the evening, if brought into 
the light. The melody of the song sometimes 
opens with that of the nightingale ; others begin 
like the skylark, and after running through a 
variety of modulations, end like the nightin- 
gale. Those which have this song are esteemed 
most; after them the English birds, which have 
learned the song of the wood-lark. Some have 
been taught to descend the scale of the octave 
in a clear, silvery tone, and to introduce a 
trumpet-like song. 



THE CANARY. 1 73 

Wood describes one which learned to talk. 
Its parents, finding it the only one hatched out 
of four eggs, neglected it, and began to build 
a second nest above it; it was, therefore, taken 
out of the cage and brought up by hand. As 
it was constantly talked to, when about three 
months old, it surprised its mistress bj' saying, 
"Kissie, kissie," and by making the sound of 
kissing. Afterward the little bird repeated 
other words, as, "Kiss dear Titchie," "Sweet 
pretty little Titchie," (its name), "Kiss sweet 
Minnie," and similar phrases. It did also 
w T histle the first bar of " God save the Queen." 

In Germany the breeders of Canaries have a 
large house made for them, with a square space 
at each end, planted with trees; the birds may 
come out from the house through holes left 
for the purpose, and feed upon the seed, chick- 
weed, and other food provided for them. The 
interior of the house is kept dark, and bunches 
Of broom are placed for the birds to build in. 
They may easily be bred without so much ex- 
pense; a large cage will answer very well. 



174 CER TAIN S WEET SINGERS. 

Particular care should be taken of the caged 
birds, in giving them regularly clean seed, fresh 
water, with enough for bathing, a supply of 
bone to aid their digestion, and a frequent 
taste of some fresh, green herb, as chickweed, 
or lettuce. The cage should be kept scrupu- 
lously clean, and the perches should be washed 
often, lest their feet become sore. If the birds 
seem dispirited and drooping, it is often caused 
by minute red mites, almost too small to be 
seen, which infest them, prevent their sleep, 
and destroy their health. If a cage be brought 
into a strong light in the evening and a white 
napkin thrown over it, in a few minutes they 
may be seen, tiny red spots on the cloth. 
They may be driven from the cage by scald- 
ing with hot water, or by applying neats-foot 
oil to every place where the insects can find 
shelter. The little block of wood at the top 
of a round wire cage, is usually a resort for 
them. A kind of powder is sold, which, when 
rubbed into the feathers of the bird, will de- 
stroy the vermin. 



THE SKY- LARK, 1 75 

Jhe j5ky-J_ark. 

Tribe — Conirostres. — Having cone-shaped bills. 

The Sky-Lark, Alaitda arvensis, is a bird 
much praised by all English writers. Jeremy 
Taylor said "it did rise and sing as if it had 
learned music and motion from an angel." It 
sings while on the wing. At first, as it springs 
from the ground, its notes are low and feeble, 
but its music swells as it rises, and long after 
the bird is lost to the eye it continues to charm 
the ear with its melody. Even then, a prac- 
ticed ear will know the motion of the bird by 
his song. It climbs up to the sky by a flight, 
winding like a spiral stair, constantly grow- 
ing wider. It ^ives a swelling sons: as it as- 
cends, and a sinking one as it descends; and 
if it takes but one turn in the air, that whirl 
is either upward or downward, and varies the 
pitch of the song. The natural impulse to 
throw itself up when it sings is so great, even 
when confined, that it leaps against the top of 
the cage, and would injure itself if the roof 



1 76 CERTAIN S WEET SINGERS. 

were not covered with green baize to receive 
the shock. 

The nest of the Lark is concealed in some 
hollow in the ground large enough to hold it. 
Usually it is hidden by a tuft of grass or leaves, 
and by the quiet color of the dry grass, leaves, 
and hair, of which it is made. The bird does 
not seek the society of man, but is not much 
disturbed if he comes near. One sitting on 
her nest was passed over by the mower's 
scythe, which cut away all her concealment, 
but did not injure her. She did not fly, and 
a person who returned in an hour to see if she 
was safe, found that she had built a dome over 
herself with dry grass, leaving an opening for 
passing in and out. 

A gentleman riding on horseback had a Lark 
drop suddenly upon the saddle before him, with 
wings outstretched, as if wounded to death. 
When he tried to lay his hands on it, it moved 
over the horse, and finally fell on the ground 
between the horse's feet. As the rider looked 
up, he saw a hawk ready to pounce upon the 



THE SKY-LARK. 177 

Lark, as soon as it should leave its place of 
refuge. Afterwards it again mounted the sad- 
dle, and at the first opportunity flew into the 
hedge, and was safe. 

A pair of Larks had hatched a brood of 
young in a grass field. The grass had to be 
cut before the young ones could fly, and as 
the mowers approached the nest, the old birds 
were much alarmed. Finally, the mother laid 
herself flat on the ground with wings out- 
spread, and the father, by pulling and pushing, 
drew one of the young on her back. She flew 
away with that, and soon returned with an- 
other. This time the father took his turn, and 
thus they carried away all the young before 
the mowers reached the place. At another 
time a L^rk attempted to carry away its young 
in its claws, but the little bird dropped from a 
height of about thirty feet, and was killed. 
They have been known to carry away their 
eggs, grasping them with their two feet. 

In the spring and summer the Larks live 
in pairs, but in autumn they gather in large 



1 7 8 CER TAIN S WEE T SINGERS. 

flocks, and before snow falls they become very 
fat, when thousands are killed for market. The 
back of the bird is brown, blackish brown, and 
gray; the lower parts dingy white. It is about 
seven inches long, the tail being three inches. 
In size it is about as large as a bob-o-liuk. 



Jhe Nightingale. 

Tribe — Dentirostres — Toothed-billed. 

Our next bird is the famed Nightingale, Lus- 
cinia philomela. It is unknown in America, 
but in England and throughout Europe it is 
deemed the prince of singers. In the even- 
ing, after most of nature's sounds are hushed, 
the Nightingale begins his song, and sings, 
with little rest, all the night. It rarely sings 
by day, and those kept in cages are often cov- 
ered with a cloth to make them sing. It is 
very shy; professed naturalists know but lit- 
tle of its habits. Mudie says: "I watched them 
very carefully for more than five years, in a 
place where they were very abundant, and at 



THE NIGHTINGALE. 179 

the end of that time I was — about as wise as 
at the beginning." 

The Nightingale begins to sing in Englaud 
in April. Its music is loudest and most con- 
stant when it first comes, for then the males 
are singing in earnest rivalry to attract their 
mates. AVben the female has made her choice, 
her mate becomes much attached to her, and if 
he should be captured, pines and dies. But his 
song grows less, and after the eggs are hatched, 
it ceases altogether. The bird catchers try to 
secure the singers during the first week, for 
then by proper care they may be made to sing 
a long time. 

The song of the Xightingale can not be de- 
scribed, even though one gentleman has print- 
ed nearly half a page of what he calls a literal 
version of it. Here is a specimen : ik Spe, tiou, 
squa, — Quio didl li lulylie — Lu ly li le lai la, 
leu lo, didl io quia l n Can you hear it? 

The listener is astonished to hear a volume 
of sound so rich and full proceed from the 
throat of so small a bird. Besides its strength, 



1 80 CER TAIN S WEET SINGERS. 

its delightful variety and exquisite harmony 
make its music most admirable. Sometimes 
it dwells on a few mournful notes, which begin 
softly, swell to its full power, and then die 
away. Sometimes it gives in quick succession 
a series of sharp, ringing tones, which it ends 
with the ascending notes of a rising chord. 
The birds which are free do not sing after 
midsummer, while, those which are caged will 
often sing until November, or even until Feb- 
ruary. The young birds need to be under the 
training of some older one, and will often sur- 
pass their teacher; few become first-rate. 

The nest of the nightingale is not built in 
the branches, or in a hole, or hanging in the 
air, or quite on the ground, but is set very 
near it. It is not easily found, unless the 
movements of the bird betray it. The mate- 
rials are straw, grass, little sticks, and dried 
leaves, all jumbled together with so little art, 
that one can hardly see it when it is right 
before him. If the same materials were seen 
any where else, they would seem to have been 



WHA T IZAAK WAL TON SAITH. 1 8 1 

blown together by the wind, and stopped just 
there by a fork in the branches. There are 
four or five smooth, olive-brown eggs. The 
bird is about six inches long, and weighs three 
quarters of an ounce. Its colors are dark 
brown above, and greyish white below. 

Izaak Walton saith: "But the nightingale, 
another of my airy creatures, breathes such 
6weet, loud music out of her little instrumental 
throat, that it might make mankind to think 
that miracles are not ceased. He that at mid- 
night, when the very laborer sleeps securely, 
should hear, as I have very often, the clear 
airs, the sweet descants, the natural rising and 
falling, the doubling and re-doubling of her 
voice, might w 7 ell be lifted above earth, and 
say, Lord, what music hast thou provided for 
the saints in heaven, when thou aflbrdest bad 
men such music on earth !" 



1 8 2 CER TAIN S WEE T SINGERS. 

JHE yVloCKING-^IRD. 
Tribe — Dentirostres. 

Although America wants the Nightingale, 
the queen of English bird-song, we have an 
equally noted, and more wonderful singer, in 
the Mocking-bird, Mimus jpolyglottus. Every- 
one who hears this bird is fascinated with its 
thrilling song. Within its throat every bird 
seems to sing, for it can reproduce all their 
notes, from the soft twitter of the blue bird to 
the rich jargon of the thrush, or the shrill 
scream of the eagle. 

"Yes, they are all here! Hear, then, each 
warble, chirp, and trill. How they crowd one 
upon another! You can hear the soft flutter 
of soft wings as they come hurrying forth ! 
Hark, that clear, rich whistle ! * Bob White, is 
it you?' Then the sudden scream! is it a 
hawk? Hey! what a gush, what a rolling, 
limpid gush ! Ah, my dainty redbreast, at thy 
matins early? Mew! what, Pussy? No, the 



THE MOCKING-BIRD. 1 83 

cat-bird; hear its low, liquid love-notes linger 
round the roses by the garden walk! Hillo ! 
listen to the little wren ! he must nearly ex- 
plode in the climax of that little agony of trills 
which it is rising on its very tip-toes to reach! 
What now? Quack, quack! Phut, phut, 
phut! Cock-doodle-doo ! What, all the barn- 
yard ? Squeak, squeak, squeak, pigs and all. 
Hark, that melancholy plaint, Whip-poor-will, 
how sadly it comes from out the shadowy dis- 
tance ! What a contrast ! the red-bird's lively 
whistle, shrill}' mounting high, higher, highest! 
Hark the orchard oriole's gay, delicious, roar- 
ing, run-mad, ranting riot of sweet sounds! 
Hear that ! it is the rain-crow, croaking for a 
storm ! Hey day ! Jay, jay, jay ! it is the im- 
perial dandy blue-jay. Hear, he has a strange, 
round, mellow whistle, too ! There goes the 
little yellow-throated warbler, the woodpecker's 
sudden call, the king-bird's woeful clatter, the 
the dove's low, plaintive coo, the owl's screech- 
ing cry and snapping beak, the tomtit's tiny 
note, the kingfisher's rattle, the crow, the 



1 84 CER TAIN S WEE T SINGERS. 

scream, the cry of love, or hate, or joy, all 
come rapidly, in unexpected contrasts, yet with 
such clear precision that each bird is expressed 
in its own individuality." 

When the bird becomes acquainted with man, 
he adds a new stock to his vast store of sounds. 
He imitates the bark of the dog, the harsh set- 
ting of saws, the whirring buzz of the mill- 
stone, the click-clack of the hoppers, the dull, 
heavy blow of the mallet, the fragments of 
song whistled by laborers or sung by milk- 
maids, the creaking of wheels, the neighing of 
horses, the baa of the sheep, the deep low of 
the oxen, and all the unnumbered variety of 
sounds produced by men. 

Besides all this, he has a song of his own. 
His own native notes, which are distinct 
from all the others, are bold and full, and very 
varied. They consist of short phrases, of two 
three, or perhaps five or six notes ; often inter- 
spersed with imitations, and all uttered with 
great rapidity and emphasis, and continued for 
half an hour at a time. Indeed, many think 



THE MOCKING BIRD. 1 85 

the imitations decided]}' injure his song; for 
in the midst of the most inspiring strain, he 
wi 1 often turn aside to introduce some jarring, 
grating discord. While singing he spreads his 
wings, expands his tail, and leaps about his 
cage as if, in ecstasy, he would dance to his own 
music. 

Each bird is master in his own district. 
"When one begins to sing, the others cease, or 
go so for away that their voices seem but the 
echo of his song. 

His nest is in some thick bush, and is care- 
fully concealed. While the female is sitting, 
the male watches with jealous care, and will 
not allow hawk or snake to come near. The 
black snake, which seeks for its eggs and 
young, is often driven away by this courage- 
ous bird. Dogs are forced to run away from 
its sharp beak, and a cat finds the ascent of 
the tree under the furious thrusts which are 
pecking her nose and blinding her eyes, a 
task too great for her endurance. 

The color of the mocking-bird is a dull 



1 86 CERTAIN S WEET SINGERS. 

brown, with a decided ashy tinge. The chin, 
throat, and under parts are pale brown, in- 
clined to gray. The male is known by the 
breadth and pure tint of the white band on 
the wings. His length is about nine inches. 




THE TRICOLOR-CRESTED COCKATOO. 

Cacatua Zeadbeateri. 



/ 



BOUT 



Pa 



RROTS. 



Vertebrate — Ayes. 

Order — Scansorea . — Climbers. 

Family — PaittacidcB. — Parrot-like. 




EXEATH the luxuriant forests 
of tropical countries, where ani- 
mal life of eveiy kind develops 
the most singular forms, and the 
most brilliant colors, the large 
and numerous family of Parrots 
18 very conspicuous. Its various 
^Vi/ sub-families, Parrakeets, Parrots, 
Lories, Macaws, and Cockatoos, are distin- 
I chiefly by variations in the form of 
beak or tail. All have large and strong beaks; 
the upper maudible, or jaw, is curved very 



19° ABOUT PARROTS. 

much, shutting down over the lower mandible, 
and is sometimes very long. The tongue is 
short, thick, and fleshy ; its shape gives these 
birds their remarkable power of imitating 
human speech. 

The first branch, the Parrakeets, or Paro- 
quets, have small bodies and long tails. They 
dwell mostly in Australia, and the islands ad- 
jacent. 

A beautiful example is the Rose-hill Parra- 
keet of New South Wales and Van Dieman's 
Land, Platycercus eximius. The head, sides of 
the face, back of the neck, and breast, are 
glowing scarlet; the chin and upper part of 
throat are pure white ; the feathers of the back 
are very dark black-green, broadly edged with 
an exquisite hue of light green ; the wing- 
shoulders are shining lilac, mixed with black; 
many of the wing-plumes have a black-green 
centre, with golden-yellow edges, and a bright 
green spot at the tip ; the central tail feathers 
are dull green, the others lilac blue, darkest 
near the quills,* and shading to almost white at 



THE GROUND PARRAKEET, I9I 

the tips; beneath the tail the feathers are light 
scarlet, and the under parts of the body are 
white, shading into light green. 

This bird eats a great variety of seeds and 
insects. It is hardy, and thrives in a cage. 
Its voice, a rather pleasant low whistle, is not 
harsh like that of many other parrots. In its 
home, it lives in the open country in little com- 
panies; in certain localities it will be very 
abundant, and between them, for long distan- 
ces, not one will be found. 

The Ground Parrakeet, Pezophonis formosiis. 
This bird has none of the gay colors of the 
former, yet is very pretty. Its barred plum- 
age, dark green above, mottled with yellow 
and black half-moon spots, and yellow beneath, 
similarly spotted, with long tail feathers alter- 
nately barred with red and green, — its habits, 
and its strong game odor, give it a marked 
resemblance to the pheasant, so that the Aus- 
tralian colonists call it by that name. On the 
Lild it runs very swiftly, winding its way 
in and out among the still' grass stems, BO 



I9 2 ABOUT PARROTS. 

shrewdly as to baffle almost any dog. As a 
last resource it takes flight, but soon alights 
again, and hides in the tufts of grass. Its 
flesh has a flavor equal to snipe, and almost 
to quail. Its white eggs are laid on the 
ground. 

Another elegant variety is the Ringed Par- 
rakeet, Palceornis torquatus, a native of both 
Asia and Africa. The ancients brought this 
bird to Rome from Ceylon; ever since it has 
been a favorite cage-bird. Wood tells of one 
which was brought from India to London, 
through the kindness of an old weather-worn 
sailor, who took her into his berth, and warmed 
her in his bosom, while the others on board 
perished during the cold nights of the passage. 
Soon after her arrival, a great clattering was 
heard in the parlor, and Polly was found in 
a very talkative mood, riding about the room 
on the cat's back, while pussy marched on with 
the greatest gravity. It was her habit to sit at 
table on her master's shoulder; if she wanted 
any thing, she pecked at his ear; if the wea- 






THE ROSE HILL PARRAKEET. 193 

flier was chilly, she climbed up by his whis- 
kers, and wanned her toes on his bald head. 

This bird does not speak very distinctly. It 
is very docile. One which was taken into a 
school room was at first so noisy as to stop all 
recitation. She was soon taught silence by 
banishment, at every transgression, into a dark 
closet. It became very amusing to see her 
stretch out her head to speak, and then, as 
she remembered, suddenly check herself. 

The general color of this bird is grass-green. 
The feathers on the head shade from green 
through blue to a fine purple at the nape of 
the neck. Just below the purple is a narrow 
band of rose color, and below that a streak of 
black, narrow at the back, and growing broader 
towards the front — hence the name torquaius, 
wearing a collar. The upper mandible is coral- 
red ; the lower, blackish. Its length is fifteen 
to eighteen inches, and its size that of a wild 

_ on, 

The Macaws live mostly iu South America, 
Their cheeks are without feathers, their tail- 



194 ABOUT PARROTS. 

feathers long, their beaks large and strong. 
They usually dwell in forests, where the ground 
is swampy. They fly high, and oftenest perch 
on the tops of the tallest trees. Their colors 
are so varied and intricate that written state- 
ments give but feeble notions of their actual 
splendor. Among the most noted varieties, 
specimens of which are often seen in menage- 
ries, are the Red and Blue, Blue and Yellow, 
Scarlet, and Great Green Macaws. 

Waterton writes of the Red and Blue Macaw: 
" Superior in size and beauty to any Parrot 
of South America, the Ara will force you to 
take your eyes from the rest of animated nature 
and gaze at him. His commanding strength, 
the flaming scarlet of his body, the lovely vari- 
ety of red, yellow, blue and green in his wings, 
the extraordinary length of his scarlet and blue 
tail, seem all to join and demand for him the 
title of emperor of all the parrots. He is scarce 
in Demarara until you reach the confines of 
the Macoushi country ; there he is in vast 






THE RED AXD BLUE MAC A W. 1 95 

abundance ; he mostly feeds on trees of the 
palm species. 

" When the coueourite trees have ripe fruit 
on them, they are covered with this magnifi- 
cent parrot He is not shy or wary; you may 
take your blow-pipe aud a quiver of poisoued 
arrows, and kill more than you can carry back 
to your hut They are very vociferous, and 
like the common Parrots, rise up in bodies 
towards sunset, and fly, two and two, to their 
places of rest. It is a graud sight in ornithol- 
ogy to see thousands of Aras flying over your 
head, low enough to let you have a full view 
of their flaming mantles. The Iudians find 
their flesh very good, and the feathers serve 
for ornaments in their head dresses." 

A bird which should be included among the 
Macaws ia the Carolina Parrot, Conurws Caru- 
lmenri$i of North America. It dwells through- 
out the Southern States, and, according to Wil- 
. may he found along all the tributaries of 
\i leifldippi and the Ohio, as far north as 
Lake Michigan. On the Atlantic coast, it rare- 



I96 ABOUT PARROTS. 

ly goes farther north than Maryland. It is 
peculiarly fond of the burrs of the cockle, whose 
prickly hooks do so much mischief by clinging 
to and working into the fleeces of sheep ; in 
some cases the wool is so filled with cockles 
that the trouble of cleaning it is more than its 
value. Besides these burrs, this Parrot eats 
beech-nuts, and the seeds of cypress trees. 

At the Big Bone Lick, on the Ohio river, 
about thirty miles from the mouth of the Ken- 
tucky, Wilson found them in great numbers; 
they came to drink the salt water. On the 
ground they seemed to spread a carpet, gay 
with green, orange, and yellow; afterwards, on 
the boughs of a tree, which they appeared to 
cover entirely, they presented a most gorgeous 
appearance, as the sunlight was reflected from 
their brilliant plumage. 

" Having shot one of their number, the 
whole flock swept round repeatedly, and again 
settled on a low tree within twen ty yards of 
the spot where I stood. At each discharge, 
though showers of them fell, the affection of 



WILSOXS PET. 197 

the survivors seemed to increase; for, after a 
few circuits, they again alighted Dear me, look- 
ing down on their slaughtered companions with 
such manifest sympathy and concern, as entire- 
ly disarmed me. They fly rery much like the 
wild pigeon, in close, compact hodies, and with 
great rapidity, making a loud and outrageous 
screaming, not unlike that of the red headed 
woodpecker. Their flight is usually circuitous, 
with a great variety of elegant and easy ser- 
pentine meanders, as if for pleasure." 

One of those which he obtained at the Big 
Bone Lick he carried with him on his way to 
Louisiana. AVhile he traveled by water, he 
kept it in a rude cage on his boat, but by land 
he wrapped it in a silk handkerchief, and 
carried it in his pocket. At meal times he 
unwound his prisoner and fed it; when he 
attempted to bind it again, a quarrel usually 
ensued, in which the bird, though forced to 
yield, often gave its master severe bites. The 
Indiana among whom he traveled were much 
amused at his companion. In their language 



1 98 ABOUT PARROTS. 

they called it "Kelinky," but they soon learned 
the white man's name, Polly. 

At Natchez he procured a suitable cage, and 
hung it on a piazza. She soon called the pass- 
ing flocks; they would often alight on the 
neighboring trees, and hold friendly chat with 
the prisoner. One was caught and put in the 
cage. Polly was delighted with her new com- 
panion. She crept close to it, as it hung by 
the bars of the cage, chattering to it in a low 
tone, as if sympathizing with its misfortune, 
scratched about its head and neck with her 
beak, and at night nestled as close as possible, 
often hiding her head in its feathers. The new 
bird died, and Polly mourned very much. A 
looking-glass was placed beside her, and all 
her fondness seemed to return. She was com- 
pletely deceived ; as night came on, and often 
by day, she would lay her head close to the 
image in the glass, and doze away, perfectly 
satisfied. During the passage from K"ew Or- 
leans the bird escaped from her cage, flew 
overboard, and was drowned. 



THE LORIES. 1 99 

The general color of the Carolina Parrot is 
green, washed with blue ; the forehead and 
cheeks, with spots on the bead, shoulders, and 
wings are orange; the primary wing-feathers 
are purplish black ; the wedge-shaped tail blue 
along the central line. Its entire length is 
about twenty-one inches. 

The Lories differ from the Macaws chiefly 
in their weaker bills and softer plumage. 
They are brilliantly colored ; are very active 
and gay, even in confinement. Their home is 
in the Molucca Islands, whence many are car- 
ried to Eastern Asia, to be kept as pets. 

As an example, we select the Purple-capped 
Lory, Lorius domicellas. The principal color of 
its plumage is rich scarlet; the top of the 
head is deep purple, nearly black on the fore- 
head, and passing into violet at the back of 
the head ; the upper part of the breast has a 
collar of yellow ; the wings are green above, 
changing to violet on the edges; the tail fea- 
thers are scarlet near the quills, banded near 
the end with black, and tipped with yellow ; 



200 ABOUT PARROTS. 

the thighs are azure ; the beak orange-yellow. 
Although the tail is short, the bird is about 
eleven inches long. 

The true Parrots are known by their short, 
square tails, the absence of a crest, and the 
toothed edges of the upper mandible. 

The Grey Parrot is one of the best known. 
It learns easily, and talks much and distinctly. 
Its home is in Africa. The sailors who bring 
it thence delight to teach it bad language, 
which it never forgets, so that in spite of the 
most complete training it will often startle 
sober people by very wicked remarks. A 
Parrot which talks much, occasionally inserts 
its sentences where they are very amusing, 
and sometimes very apt. 

A Parrot belonging to a Portuguese gentle- 
man who had an English wife, would talk in 
both Portuguese and English, but would never 
confuse the two. If addressed in either lan- 
guage, it would always reply in the same. 
Towards dinner time it would become much 
excited, and cry very loud, " Sarah, lay the 



ANECDOTES. 201 

cloth — want my dinner!" Its master used 
to punish it for talking too loud; so when his 
step was heard, Polly would get down upon 
the bottom of its cage very humbly, and lay- 
ing its head to the floor, whisper in its lowest 
tones, "Want my dinner! Sarah, make haste 
— want my dinner !" 

When ships of war are lying away from a 
wharf, or pier, ladies who wish to go on board 
are often taken up by what the sailors call a 
whip. This is an arm chair suspended by a 
rope; the lady sits in the chair, and the sail- 
ors hoist away. On one occasion, when the 
chair was half way up the ship's side, a Parrot 
on board suddenly called out, " Let go !" and 
the men, thinking it a real order, dropped the 
poor lady, chair and all, into the sea. 

One Parrot was accustomed to imitate the 
cries of a dog when run over by a wagon. 
First, there was the short, terrified yelp, when 
the dog found itself in danger; then the shriek 
of pain, as foot or tail was caught by the wheel, 
and then the Ki-i y Ki-i, Ki-i, dying away as the 



204 ABOUT PARROTS. 

dog turned the corner and vanished up the 
street. Of course the bird had not many re- 
hearsals in learning this lesson. 

A Grey Parrot, mentioned by Mr. Wood, 
observed that her keepers were very fond of 
a pair of goldfinches, which they were in the 
habit of visiting frequently, and feeding with 
crumbs and seeds. Polly thought it proper to 
be in the fashion, so she went to her cage and 
brought a beak full of sopped bread to put in 
the nest. Presently the eggs were hatched, 
and Polly was delighted, but her way of show- 
ing her pleasure was so earnest, that the parent 
birds were frightened away. Seeing the little 
ones deserted, she took them into her own 
charge, stayed with them by night and by day, 
fed them, even opening their bills and thrust- 
ing food down their throats, and brought them 
up. When able to hop about, four would get 
upon her back, and the fifth on her head, and 
thus laden, Polly would walk gravely up and 
down the lawn, or now and then fly a little 
way, putting all the ten little wings in a flutter. 



A FOSTER-MOTHER. 



205 



By and by the birds were fully fledged, 
flew away, and came back no more. Polly 
was disconsolate, but presently found relief in 
adopting the brood of a hedge sparrow. These 
she got somehow upon her back, and carried 
away to her own cage. One of the parents 
had been killed, perhaps by a hawk; the other 
Polly managed to scrape acquaintance with. 
At first she talked a mixed jargon of English, 
swearing, and bird-talk, but the language of 
the birds seemed to overpower the human 
speech, and the two shortly understood each 
other perfectly well. 

The color of this bird is elegant ashy grey, 
darker above and lighter beneath ; the tail is 
bright scarlet; the bill black. 

A beautiful little Parrot, about six inches 
long, of a general grass-green color, i3 known 
as Swindern'8 Love-Bird. A pair — a single 
one soon droops and dies — sit lovingly side 
by side, caressing and frequently feeding each 
other in a way that looks quite like kissing. 

The Cockatoos have the short, square tails, 



2o6 



ABOUT PARROTS. 



and strong beaks of the parrots, and some rival 
the great size of the macaws ; Their distinct- 
ive feature is a crest of elegant feathers, which 
the owner can raise or depress at will. A spe- 
cies which in other respects is classed among 
the parrakeets, is called the Parrakeet Cocka- 
too. They are generally natives of Australia 
and adjacent islands, dwelling in the woods, 
and living on seeds and fruits. They nest in 
decayed trees. When taken young they are 
easily tamed, and become quite talkative. 

The Great White or Broad-crested Cockatoo, 
Cacatua cristatus. This bird is about the size 
of a common fowl, and it seems much larger 
when, excited by fear or anger, it ruffles up its 
feathers. Its plumage is white, tinged with 
rose-color ; its white crest consists of long fea- 
thers arching oyer its head. 

The Great Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, C. gal- 
erita, measures more than two feet in length. 
Its color is white, tinged about the wing covers 
and the sides of the tail, with yellow. Its head 
wears a long, broad, pointed crest of fine sul- 



PRACTICAL JOKING, 207 

phur yellow. Its bill is black. The same 
description answers equally well for the smaller 
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, C. sulphur eus, except 
that the length is only about fifteen inches. 

With their strong beaks these birds easily 
crack nuts and extract the kernel, or break the 
shells of snails and periwinkles, and pick out 
the inhabitants. One kept in a cage was fond 
of biting in pieces bits of wood which it could 
get hold of. It would anxiously watch the 
removal of the thread from a cotton reel, and 
when the empty spool was placed outside its 
cage, it would come down from its perch, 
thrust its foot between the bars, reach this way 
and that until it found the toy, draw it into 
the cage, and bite it to bits. 

Sometimes the Cockatoo shows a fondness 
for practical joking. A lady had shown some 
fear of one, caused by its strong beak. The 
bird discovered that she was afraid, and 
thought it fine sport, whenever this lady came 
r itfl perch, to ruffle up its feathers, yell, 
and pretend to attack her, just to hear some- 



208 ABOUT PARROTS. 

thing so much bigger than itself scream, and 
to see it run away. 

The beautiful bird shown in the engraving 
is called the Tricolor- crested, or the Pink, or 
Leadbeater's Cockatoo, C. Leadbeateri. Its 
splendid crest is remarkable for its size, and 
for a power which the bird has of raising it 
like a fan, as in the picture, or of laying it 
flat upon its head. The long, pointed fea- 
thers which compose it are crimson at the 
base, then crossed by a broad band of sulphur- 
yellow, then by crimson again, and tipped 
with white. The neck, breast, sides, and 
under surface of the wing are deeply stained 
with crimson. 

In the chapter on Kangaroos, Beasts, page 
167, we described the boomerang, and the 
skill which the native Australians display in 
using it against that animal. They make it 
no less serviceable in hunting Cockatoos. 

Capt. Grey writes : " Perhaps as fine a sight 
as may be seen in the whole circle of native 
sports is the killing Cockatoos with the kiley, 



CATCHING COCKATOOS. 209 

or boomerang. A native perceives a large 
flight of Cockatoos in a forest which encircles 
a lagoon ; the expanse of water aftords an open 
clear space above it, unencumbered with trees, 
but which raise their gigantic forms all around, 
more vigorous in their growth from the damp 
soil in which they flourish ; and in their leafy 
summits sit a countless number of Cockatoos, 
screaming and flying from tree to tree, as they 
make their arrangements for a night's sound 
sleep. 

" The native throws aside his cloak, so that 
he may have not even this slight covering to 
impede his motions, draws his kiley from his 
belt, and, with a noiseless, elastic step, ap- 
proaches the lagoon, creeping from tree to tree, 
from bush to bush, and disturbing the birds as 
little as possible; their sentinels, however, take 
the alarm. The Cockatoos farthest from the 
water fly to the trees near its edge, and thus 
they keep concentrating their forces as the 
native advances; they are aware that danger 
is at hand, but are ignoraut of its nature. 



2IO ABOUT PARROTS. 

" At length, the pursuer almost reaches the 
edge of the water, and the scared Cockatoos, 
with wild cries, spring into the air; at the 
same instant the native raises his right hand 
high over his shoulder, and bounding forward 
with his utmost speed for a few paces, to give 
impetus to the blow, the kiley quits his hand 
as if it would strike the water, but when it has 
almost touched the unruffled surface of the 
lake, it spins upward with inconceivable velo- 
city, and with the strangest contortions. In 
vain the terrified Cockatoos strive to avoid it ; 
it sweeps wildly and uncertainly through the 
air, and so eccentric are its motions, that it 
requires but a slight stretch of the imagination 
to fancy it endowed with life, and with fell 
swoops in rapid pursuit of the devoted birds, 
some of whom are almost certain to be brought 
screaming to the earth. 

"But the wily savage has not yet done with 
them. He avails himself of the extraordinary 
attachment which these birds have for one 
another, and fastening a wounded one to a 



UNDESIRABLE PETS. 211 

tree, so that its cries may induce its compan- 
ions to return, he watches his opportunity, by 
throwing his kiley or spear, to add another 
bird or two to the booty he has already ob- 
tained." 

Ail things considered, the parrot does not 
seem to be a desirable pet. Many, it is true, 
are gorgeously, or, rather, gaudily attired; 
they are rare, and therefore costly, and, there- 
fore, to many, valuable. But their voices are 
harsh ; the sentences which they learn become 
painfully monotonous from constant repetition; 
the laugh which they acquire is hollow and 
weird. A bird in your house which can talk, 
laugh, scold, and swear, does not seem to be a 
friend and companion, but rather an imp, a 
witch, familiar with evil spirits, if not actually 
possessed by them. Anecdotes may be multi- 
plied concerning their queer sayings and do- 
ing-, but they almost always describe some 
which lived long ago, or far away. A quiet 
man, studiously disposed, who unfortunately 
lives next door to a thorough-bred talker, soon 



212 ABOUT PARROTS. 

comes to wish every member of the family 
back in Africa, or Australia, or some equally 
remote land, with some Mede-and-Persian law 
against their leaving home. How much more 
lovable and lovely our native birds, whose 
graceful forms, beautiful plumage, and jubilant 
singing, enlivens our forest, prairie, and village 
homes ! 



About 



Pur p 



ICKIE. 




Q^Z^OTT never heard of our Dickie? 
Quite likely. There had been 
many Dickies before, and there 
are many left, but none were, or 
are, like Our Dickie. When you 
hear his story, I am sure you will 
agree with me that Our Dickie 
was a rare little fellow. This is 
the story : 

But first you must know where we live, and 
how we came to have a Dickie. Now our 
home is in a homely — that is, homelike — old 
house, that nestles in the shadow of some grand 
oak trees on the high shore of Lake Michigan. 
In winter, the winds moan among the naked, 
shivering branches of the gray old trees, but in 



2l6 



ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 



summer the sunshine peeps cheerily through 
their gnarled tops, and dances gaily on the 
green turf below, while the birds nestle in their 
thick foliage ; the woodpeckers rattle at the 
dry limbs, and look out from their holes in the 
mossy trunks ; the vireos whistle from their 
sprays; the blue-birds, and yellow-birds, and 
flame-colored orioles flash hither and thither 
through their branches; the robins build in 
their forks; the jays scream and scold about the 
fallen acorns ; the nuthatches and the wrens 
creep up and down and athwart the bark, and 
the sparrows are every where at home. Here, 
if nowhere else, the birds find an asylum. The 
children love to greet their coming, and to 
watch their quaint ways. No noise of gun, no 
stone or arrow, ever disturbs their work. 

From the rear of the garden the ground falls 
away fifty feet, as steep as sand and clay will 
stand, down to the pebbly margin of the lake ; 
and here, in the face of the steep bank, in the 
tufts of sedge, and thickets of willow, in great 
groves of growing hemp, and clumps of thistles 



THE SPARR O W'S FRA UD. 2 1 7 

and golden-rod, the birds are still at home. 
The bank-swallows dig holes in the earth ; the 
kingfisher sits and watches his finny prey; the 
sparrows make their nests; while in the waters 
below the wild ducks paddle and dive, and 
above, the gulls spread their white and gleam- 
ing sails. 

One July day, while we were searching the 
bank for some peculiar plants, a sparrow flut- 
tered away from us in great apparent distress. 
She seemed to be hurt; as if a leg or wing, we 
could not tell which, was badly wounded, and 
bo one could almost put his hand on her as she 
floundered away through the weeds. Almost, 
but never quite; pretty soon, when she had 
drawn us away a few rods, suddenly she was 
healed; she sat on a twig, bobbed this way 
and that, whistled a chirp or two, and then 
flew away as contentedly as possible. 

Then we knew what a pious fraud the little 
actor had been playing upon us. Somewhere 
in that bunch of golden-rod and rank grass, she 
had hidden her nest, and by all this fluttering 



2 1 8 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

show of broken wing she had hoped to entice 
us away from her darlings, to avert the great 
peril which threatened them. And so, having, 
as she thought, finished the deception, she flew 
away, while we went back to the bush, and 
found out her secret. 

Her house she had builded of grass, and 
cushioned with hair. It was set about two 
feet from the ground, among the rank weeds, 
just where she could peep out between the 
leaves and twigs, and observe all who passed 
or approached her home. In the nest were 
three tiny birds — one little, one less, one least 
of all — with one addled egg. From this it 
appeared that the sparrow, like the canary, 
begins to sit as soon as the first egg is laid. 
The four eggs, laid at intervals of one or two 
days, are hatched in succession, and birds of 
several sizes are found in the same nest. Thus 
a week's time is saved. 

The little birds were merely wads of red 
meat, covered with folds of wrinkled skin; 
they had sprawling, useless legs, and long, thin 



THE rOUNG BIRDS. 219 

necks, which carried each a round, bald head, 
with blind bunches where eyes should be, and 
beaks that gaped voraciously. Feathers were 
not ; a few scattered hairs, together with the 
beginnings of quills at the edges of the wings, 
were the only clothing of these naked bodies. 
As we jarred the bush, the three necks thrust 
up three yaw r ning mouths, waited an instaut, 
and then sank down again ; another jar 
brought them up. again, but we had nothing 
to put in them, and so went away, not failing 
to observe the anxious mother, who had re- 
turned, and was watching us in great tribula- 
tion on a near bush. 

When we were safely off, she flew to the 
nest, and, as I imagine, concluded that w T e were 
not very dangerous dragons, for at subsequent 
visits, she merely flew to the bush, without 
repeating the fiction of the broken wing. Two 
or three times next day I visited the nest and 
fed the little eager mouths with bits of moist- 
ened bread, which the birds seemed to swallow 
with intense satisfaction, while the mother 



220 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

made no special demonstration of alarm. I 
began to think I had established a pleasant 
intimacy with the family. 

Late the third day I visited my new friends, 
and then things were in sad confusion. Some 
stray cow had eaten away all the cover of 
weeds, and left the brood without shelter under 
the scalding rays of the sun. Worse than all, 
the mother was no where to be seen, and the 
hungry mouths screamed for food. I waited 
and watched, but she came no more. I con- 
cluded that she must have been killed, for I 
could hardly believe that she had been fright- 
ened away permanently, so I took nest and 
birds and carried them to the chamber where 
I was writing these bird-sketches for my little 
friends. 

Here, then, was a task before me, to rear 
up this little deserted family. The first thing 
was to find suitable food ; but one can hardly 
go astray in giving bread moistened with milk to 
young birds. The first thing which I observed 
was the utter helplessness of the little crea- 



FEEDING LITTLE BIRDS. 221 

tures. They seemed to have no sense save that 
of feeling, or, more exactly, of motion. Their 
eyes were quite closed ; no noise, whistle, or 
chirp which I made aroused them, but the 
slightest jar given to the nest, or to the table 
on which it stood, brought up the three heads 
in an instant, with mouths open wide, and 
uttering a hissing kind of squeak. It was not 
enough to put the crumbs of bread into their 
mouth3. The base of the tongue has a sort 
of barb, like that of a fish-hook, which projects 
back into the throat, and a pair of similar barbs 
are in the roof of the mouth. If the food were 
not thrust so far into the throat as to be caught 
by these barbs, it w r as thrown away with a flirt. 
This did not seem to be because the bird did 
not like the food, for it swallowed it eagerly 
w T hen pushed farther into its throat, unless it 
had taken enough ; then it would throw it 
away. 

They ate every half hour during the day, if 
food was given so often ; if left two hours, the 
heads were all up and screaming. After twi- 



222 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

light they were quiet until early dawn, and 
then there was no peace until somebody got 
up and fed them. 

In a few days, the largest one, which we had 
called Dickie, began to get his eyes open, and 
to look about. He soon learned the whistle 
which was given when he was fed, and gave an 
answering chirp — tsip, tsip. One day, after his 
allowance of crumbs, he still opened his mouth 
and cried, but yet threw the bread away. In 
doubt as to what he wanted, I dipped my finger 
into water which stood by, and let the drop fall 
into his throat It was just the thing ; the 
drop was eagerly swallowed, and the open beak 
screamed for more. Two or three drops were 
enough, and the bird nestled away, satisfied. 

"Was this want natural, or was it caused by 
the peculiar nature of its food ? There seemed 
to be moisture enough in the milk with which 
the bread was soaked. Do the old birds bring 
water to their young when in the nest ? This 
nest was near enough to water for such a pur- 
pose; and any where a supply could be had 



HIS FOOD. 223 

from dew drops ; but I have never seen any 
statement of naturalists to this point, and had 
always supposed such a carrying of water im- 
possible. Certain it is, that before my birds 
were able to feed themselves, I gave them, once 
or twice a day, two or three drops of water, 
which they swallowed greedily, and for which 
they clamored, if by chance it was forgotten. 

When I found small caterpillars, I fed them 
to my birds. They ate them gladly, but I 
could not spare the time to search for that kind 
of diet, and quite likely for this reason, the 
youngest died in two or three days, and the 
next at the end of the second week. Dickie 
seemed perfectly healthy ; he grew rapidly, and 
soon was cohered with feathers, • 

From the presence of the egg in the nest, 
and the sizes of the birds, I supposed that 
Dickie had been hatched about a week when 
I adopted the family, so he must have been 
about three weeks old when I found him 
sprawling on the floor, and scolding most ear- 
nestly. Thinking that he had fallen out of the 



224 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

nest by chance, I put him back again, but soon 
found that he was no longer to be cribbed or 
confined in any such limited quarters. The 
nest was too small for his expanding ideas, and 
he had started to see the world. Afraid to 
have him loose, I put him in an old cage, but 
that did not suit at all ; he went out between 
the wires without the slightest trouble. So I 
was forced to let him wander about the room 
as he pleased, and here began our more inti- 
mate and amusing acquaintance. He was not 
pretty as birds go ; he was only little, brown, 
and ragged ; he had no song, except his con- 
stant chirp, but he became a most entertaining 
companion. 

When Dickie was five weeks old, he was tol- 
erably well feathered, could perch securely, and 
fly about the room. He would feed himself if 
quite hungry, but much preferred to be fed. 
His favorite perch was a round of the chair in 
which I sat writing; to this place he would 
retire after a full meal, and sit for an hour, or 
until he was hungry again. Other places oi 



HIS CHIRP. 225 

about equal merit were my knee or my shoul- 
der ; these he sometimes seemed to prefer, 
because warm to his feet, and here he would 
sit, his feathers raised into a puffy ball, his 
crest up, and himself looking about as if the 
world, his oyster, were already opened, and he 
thoroughly happy with the contents. 

Wherever he was, by day or night, he always- 
answered my call — the chirp that I used w T hen 
feeding him — by his own cheerful chirp; a 
second or third call was sure to bring him hop- 
ping or flying to my finger. In the night, 
when asleep, with his head under his wing, he 
answered my call with a very gentle, sleepy 
chirrup, but without taking his beak from 
under the feathers. When he had been left 
alone, his joy at the return of a friend was 
without bounds. His chirp answered the first 
step on the stair, and when the door opened, 
he came flying from even the most distant cor- 
ner of the room, and alighted on the hand or 
the head of his visitor with screams of delight. 

Strangers, particularly children, he w r as a 



226 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

little afraid of, and would retire to his master, 
but he soon made acquaintance. To take him 
up, one had only to put his finger before him, 
and he would instantly step on it ; we used to 
amuse ourselves by making him walk up stairs 
from finger to finger. 

He was much attracted by writing. He fol- 
lowed the pen or pencil continually from side 
to side of the paper, pecking at the point, and 
often trying to pick the letters off the paper. 
A pin, in a cushion, or between the leaves of a 
book, afforded him much diversion ; he would 
work patiently many minutes to pull it out. 
Often, as he ran about over my writing, we had 
mock skirmishes together. The pencil would 
be laid gently on his toes ; this he would an- 
swer by two or three sharp pats with the dis- 
turbed foot, a retreat, and then a quick return 
to the sport — for such he deemed it — never 
showing any sign of fear, or distrust. 

He would allow no approach from behind ; 
quick as a flash he would face about, and con- 
front his pursuer. So, too, while he would at 



HIS SLEEPING-PLACE, 2 2"] 

any time mount the finger, if one tried to cover 
him with the open hand, just as the hand was 
about to close upon him, he usually stepped 
aside, saying by his saucy air, " no you don't." 

At night, he usually retired to the open cage, 
and placed himself on its highest perch, under 
the shelter of its roof. If by accident the cage 
was shut, he mounted its ridge. One night, 
at bed time, he was not to be found. 
Next morning early he was clamorous for his 
breakfast. He had slipped out through the 
blind, and spent the night in an oak tree, but 
was glad to come back again. Usually the 
window and blind near my writing desk were 
open, and he hopped about the sill, seldom 
offering to go out, and always ready to return 
when called. 

His food continued to be bread and milk, 
with occasionally some boiled egg; rice was 
acceptable, and rice pudding peculiarly so. In- 
sects of any kind he devoured eagerly. Flies 
he helped himself to. A dragon-fly busied 
him for a long time. He broke oft" bit by bit, 



228 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

thumped away at the head and thorax until he 
had broken their hard shells, and could swallow 
them, and rejected the wings as too husky for 
his stomach. Spiders were a luxury. I took 
him in my hand to a place in the open air 
where the spiders had woven their geometrical 
webs over a long balustrade, and even while a 
close prisoner, he cleared the whole railing. 

In early autumn, my duties calling me to the 
city, I took Dickie with me. He at once made 
himself at home in his new quarters. During 
the day I left him in the cage ; on my return at 
night, I gave him the freedom of the room. 
The confinement did not seem to annoy him, 
but his delight at companionship was evident. 

It was not convenient, in our new home, to 
supply him with insects, and his health suf- 
fered. By day he was sprightly enough, but in 
the evening, as soon as he went to sleep, he 
fell from his perch. Then he would* pick him- 
self up in great astonishment, and immediately 
climb to the topmost perch in the cage, to go to 
sleep and fall again. I took out the higher 



HIS FRIGHT, 229 

perches, but the low ones did not satisfy; he 
climbed to the top and held on the wires. Out- 
side the cage, so long as there was a light in 
the room, the only place where he was content 
was on the top of my head ; the shoulder would 
not do, because the head was higher. 

One night, just before putting out my light, 
I placed Dickie on a stand within reach of the 
bed. Whea it was dark, I spoke to him and 
he auswered ; I put out my hand and touched 
him. Instantly he sprang from his place and 
fell on the floor. I spoke to him again to reas- 
sure him, and felt for him in the darkness, in 
order to put him back again on the stand, but 
the instant I touched him, with a terribly fright- 
ened scream, such as I had never before heard 
from him, he fled away. He would not answer 
my call, but when the light was brought, with 
a great cry he flew to my hand, overjoyed at 
his escape from the terrible unknown danger 
which had come so near him in the darkness. 

Up to this time he had always taken what- 
ever I had offered him to eat, and if, by way 



230 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

of joke, I had given him a bit of stick, he sim- 
ply threw it away, as if saying, " You know I 
can't eat that !" As advised by some writer on 
bird-keeping, I mixed a quantity of pepper with 
his food. The first morsel he took as a matter 
of course, but the turn of his head said, " What 
vile stuff is that ?" The next he took, tasted, 
and threw away. The next he would not 
touch, so I had to open his beak and give his 
medicine by force. He did not resent it par- 
ticularly, and took the drops of water I offered 
him kindly ; but next morning, when I brought 
his breakfast, his manner said quite plainly, 
" You cheated me before, and I can't trust you 
now !" However, hunger was on my side ; he 
ventured finally to try a crumb, and finding 
that all right, forgave the affront, and went on 
with his meal. 

One evening, while busy, I heard him fall 
from his perch into his bathing dish, but as 
this had happened before without harm, I 
thought no more of it ; afterward, not hearing 
the usual flutter which he made in shaking the 



HIS GHOST. 231 

water from his feathers, I went to his cage, and 
found the bird dead in his bath. One could 
not help sorrow for so entertaining a pet, 
though of no more consequence than a spar- 
row. In manifold cerements of soft paper we 
laid him away, and put the vacant cage out of 
sight. 

And now comes in the supernatural. It 
might, perhaps, be expected that a bird so 
remarkable while living should make some 
ghostly manifestation after so tragic a fate, yet 
who would suppose that the ghost of a sparrow 
would revisit the scene where he had chirped 
out his little life ? As has been related, when- 
ever any one came to the room where Dickie 
was alone, he made great show of gladness, 
chirping, and if free, flying to the head or hand 
of his visitor. So, after he was dead, as we 
opened the door, and stepped into the room, 
the same familiar chirp was often heard. Sev- 
eral persons observed it. It did not come from 
the door, for we oiled the hinges, and the door 
opened noiselessly. It was never heard whea 



23 2 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

we left the room, but only occasionally, as we 
entered, and usually when we were not think- 
ing of it, or expecting it. It was no night- 
walking ghost ; it came honestly, in broad day- 
light. 

Alas, for our veritable ghost story ! A few 
weeks passed, and we discovered that one 
board, when trod on in a peculiar place before 
the door, uttered a sharp creak, quite like poor 
dead Dickie's chirp. The precise place which 
made the sound was where one might step 
when coming into the room, but not on 
going out. The mystery had descended to a 
very commonplace fact, but I make no doubt 
that Dickie's ghost was as veritable an exist- 
ence as sluj of those more pretentious goblins 
which have, 

" in complete steel, 
Revisited the glimpses of the moon, 
Making night hideous." 

The sprightly, playful, affectionate nature of 
ray little bird, his thorough domestication, and 



ENGLISH SPARRO WS. 233 

trustful confidence, endeared him to us all. 
Such is the story of Our Dickie. 

The family of Sparrows contains many spe- 
cies, and is abundant on both sides of the 
Atlantic. The English Sparrow, the only one 
which has found his way into general literature, 
is quite different from our American varieties, 
both in form and in habits. His shape is 
stouter, and his coloring, a mixture of white, 
brown, gray, and black, not easily described, is 
more varied. He gathers in large flocks, is 
equally at home in country or town, and alike 
fearless in the presence of man, or of larger 
birds and quadrupeds. When the Crystal Pal- 
ace was built in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, 
the sparrows which swarmed into the enclosure 
through the ventilators gave very serious trou- 
ble, and were finally banished by a few sparrow 
hawks. 

The Sparrows breed very fast, raising sev- 
eral broods in a single season. In a province 
of France they were all destroyed by order of 



234 ABOUT OUR DICKIE. 

government; the next year even the green 
trees were killed by caterpillars* Besides great 
numbers of worms and grubs, the Sparrows 
eat the seeds of many noxious plants, as 
dandelion, and thistle. These valuable quali- 
ties are shared by most of our small birds, and 
all richly deserve protection, A few years 
sinee, a number of English Sparrows were im- 
ported for the Central Park in New York. 
They at once settled themselves in their new 
quarters, and have since so multiplied as to be 
common in all that part of the city and in adja- 
cent towns. 

Of American Sparrows, which children call 
" chip-birds," there are many species, which 
differ so little that only expert naturalists can 
distinguish them. 



